


Sand People

by refan



Category: 2PM (Band)
Genre: AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-09
Updated: 2015-10-09
Packaged: 2018-04-25 14:44:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 32,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4964695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/refan/pseuds/refan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Year 2063. Mankind has been trying to fight the invasion of aliens for 10 years, but there's not many people left alive. And those who are still alive are struggling to survive. Junho's one of them. But when his life is at stake there's someone who saves his life and offers something Junho can't refuse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This FF was inspired by Wooyoung's Men's Health photoshoot ^^  
> Thanks to many people who took part in editing my crappy grammar in various chapters lol: @retropedia, @egle0702, @Ling, @kuronoa.

[ ](http://s66.photobucket.com/user/ielektrinta/media/woohosp.png.html)

The engine of his motorcycle roars and it sounds like an old man‘s cough. Junho curses because he knows he’s almost ran out of time. He has to find a safe place before the sun leaves the dusty horizon, but he’s almost out of gas. Even if this desert looks peaceful, Junho knows it’s a trap for every living human being on this planet. It’s been almost 10 years since the alien invasion, forcing mankind hide in an underground or simply die. Junho knows this all too well, as he’s the only one of his group who’s managed to succeed in existing. Till now.

Junho speeds up, but the iron beast doesn’t drive faster. He glances at the sandy hills casting ominous shadows and grits his teeth. This might be the last day of his existence. Water-carriers have low tolerance to heat and intense sunlight. Deserts became a place to live for the remaining people. Aliens’ life force is water, thus, they stay away from this wilderness, but once night falls – they scan these areas to destroy the last human beings. Junho frowns as he remembers that water was the reason these aliens came here. He was still a teenager when it all happened, but he remembers that day better than anything else. Everything changed since then. Even the most advanced weapons were no match against aliens as they’d heal themselves by simply swimming in the water. The only thing people managed to do was destroy their spaceship, forcing these creatures to mate and live on Earth. And destroy human beings.

His motorcycle coughs for the last time and Junho jumps off grabbing his backpack. It’s still hot, but he knows how cold it can get at night, so he must hurry up and find a cave in nearby sandy rocks. He throws an oversized sweater on his tanned shoulders and runs forward, hoping fortune would be his tonight. Sand and small pebbles grit beneath his heavy boots as he hurries forward, and Junho smiles seeing something akin to a small cave a few hundred meters in front of him.

He doesn’t reach it as two water-carriers block his way. They look almost like humans, except for their huge emerald round eyes. White long hair covers their pale shoulders and their fingers have this weird membrane which reminds Junho of frogs. But Junho doesn’t analyse their appearance anymore because it’s not the first time he’s faced them. 

However, he’s completely alone this time.

Junho notices they don’t have heavy weapons and he smirks. Maybe it is his lucky day. But he knows even without the weapons, these creatures are strong. Junho doesn’t underestimate them. One of them lunges forward and Junho’s ready in a combat position. He kicks the alien in his stomach and the latter falls down. Junho knows he must’ve damaged a vital point, but he doesn’t relax as the second one moves faster and fails to hit Junho’s face. Junho ducks quickly and kicks his shin. The alien loses his balance, but he manages to kick Junho in his chin as he falls down.

The first alien cries out, but Junho doesn’t mind him, because his enemy jumps on top of him and pulls out a knife. This is their main weapon in close combat. Junho screams when the alien succeeds in slitting his arm, but he keeps on fighting. Junho bites his wrist and kicks him off. He can feel the taste of salty water in his mouth and he spits it out hastily. Junho turns back quickly and runs forward, but he can’t defend well with his injured arm as the enemy pulls him back and punches his stomach a few times. This one is very strong. Junho has an unfortunate chance to feel more of that strength as the enemy kicks his rib cage.

Junho falls on his back again and huffs as the pain takes over his body. Watter-carrier doesn’t show any emotion approaching his victim and Junho yells, “Curse you!”

“There’s not many of you left, human. Tell me where the others are hiding.” He doesn’t debate or offer an exchange to live for revealing the whereabouts.

“Even if I knew, I’d never betray my kind,” he spits and regrets it immediately as his chest hurts in result. That previous kick was too much for his ribs.

“Die, human.” He raises a knife and is about to pierce it through Junho’s chest but at that moment a gust of sand makes both of them look to their left.

There’s not much his eyes catch, but Junho sees the alien’s eye being pierced and the latter falling down dead. Junho is blinded by the shiny shoulder armour for a moment and it registers in his mind that one of the spikes on it pierced through the water-carrier’s brain as this unknown person grabbed his white hair and killed him in one swift movement. Junho notices a few emerald blood drops on his saviour’s forearm armour and his eyes travel to the man’s dark leather pants, tightening around muscular thighs. Junho’s eyes move up and he sees a weird tattoo on tanned skin, covering the stranger’s hip. He admires firm muscles and thinks he must be very powerful to beat an alien so easily. Junho notices another tattoo coming from somewhere on his back to the side of his neck as the man is still kneeling on one leg.

Junho’s lying on the sandy ground, his body aching all over, but he doesn’t mind it. He looks at the stranger’s profile and the latter finally looks at him calmly. Junho doesn’t know if he should be alarmed, but he hopes this one won’t fight against him, because Junho doesn’t have any strength left within him. He still feels the remnants of the water-carrier’s emerald blood in his mouth. Only then he remembers that their blood is toxic. He can’t die from it, but it reduces vitality.

Junho blinks fervently and fights the fatigue as the man walks up to him and squats beside. He doesn’t remember when the last time he looked at a human being was, but Junho doesn’t want to stop looking at him. Even though, somehow, that man oozes the aura of superiority and something else. He smiles confidently at Junho and touches his forehead gently. His skin feels hot and Junho thinks his own temperature must’ve dropped.

Peculiarly, Junho feels at ease. His heavy eyelids prevent him from staring at his saviour and he blacks out.

His dreams are followed by distant memories, most from his secure and innocent childhood. Junho loves dreaming. His dreams are always vivid and light. Even after all this invasion mess, he isn’t able to have nightmares. Maybe that is the reason he prefers sleeping, hiding from the reality, but the truth is, Junho believes his dreams are the only decent reality left for him. He hates setting himself in danger, looking for gas, food and water. He knows enemies are always there, securing all areas which provide water. Nevertheless, he has to risk it if he wants to survive.

Junho trains his body when the sun goes down and sleeps till noon to leave at the hottest time of the day to avoid water-carriers. This evening turned out to be very unfortunate. Junho’s search was fruitless and it consumed too much of his precious time. He’s was lucky enough to find some food pills, the only decent substitute for food invented by the government for poor people thirty years ago. Who knew this would help to survive in the future, because finding real food is more than tough. Especially in this wilderness.

There’s this weird warm tickling that makes Junho’s body wince. His chest feels almost hot and he doesn’t want to wake up, but then he remembers it’s a miracle he’s awake in the first place. Junho opens his eyes and realises he’s in a cave, maybe an underground one. He turns his head and sees something he has seen only in history books – a small cresset. It creates a very cosy atmosphere in this darkness and Junho’s eyes avert to another side and find the stranger from before. He’s sitting with his legs crossed and gives a quick glance to Junho, hovering hands above the lying man’s chest.

“How are you feeling?” His serene voice somehow startles Junho and he wants to get up but the stranger pushes his chest down. Only then Junho feels his chest doesn’t hurt anymore. He calms down and looks up at his saviour.

“What have you done to me? I don’t feel any pain.” He looks at the sharp spikes on the stranger’s shoulder. It’s not that warm really and he’s wearing only pants and two piece armour.

“That’s great,” the right corner of his lips curls up, “I healed you.”

“How? I don’t see any healing equipment here. And who are you anyway?” Junho knows he’s being hostile, but maybe being alone for a very long time makes people like that. He suspects even this man, who took his time to save one life.

“A friend.”

“You do realise having a friend is not that popular these days?” Junho keeps on pushing, but this patient man doesn’t look bothered by it.

“I do.”

“So?”

“So?” He repeats and it annoys Junho.

“I’d like to know who saved my life before we part.”

“What if I don’t want us to part?” He tilts his head slightly and Junho thinks this man is weird. However, who wouldn’t be weird living in a world like this? Though this one has a different oddity about him and it bugs Junho. But what bugs him more is that last question.

“You don’t? Why?”

“Because if I leave you on your own, you won’t get a chance to survive. You’re strong, but not strong enough to fight till the end. And yet, you’re strong enough to join me. I want to give you a chance, don’t refuse it. What’s your name?” Junho blinks and his brain is having a hard time comprehending these words.

“Junho.”

“Nice to meet you, Junho. Call me Wooyoung.” Junho doesn’t know if it’s because he hasn’t seen people for a very long time and he has actually forgotten how to socialize, but he finds it hard to refuse and to talk in general. This man is something else. He feels it as Wooyoung removes his palms from Junho’s chest and that weird warm tingling disappears as well.

“Are... Are you an alien? You healed my wounds...” Junho sits up and faces Wooyoung on the same eye level.

“I wouldn’t call myself an alien,” he laughs.

“But...”

“I am you and you are me. I guess you’d call me a super human, but not an alien. Because after all, all of mankind was created in our image.” He smiles and let’s Junho’s brain to digest all new information. “I’m here to save the last bits of what we have created.” Wooyoung’s face looks relaxed, but his voice shows no humour. Junho shakes his head. Is this really happening? Is he really?..

“Are you telling me you’re... God?” Junho feels like an idiot for asking this.

Wooyoung’s sonorous laugh fills the cave as he slaps his own knee, making himself look more like a human than a god. “You’re funny. I said we. I’m not a god. None of us are. I’m trying to make you understand that life in this planet was triggered by our race. Genetic engineering, that is.”

“Are you serious?” Junho can’t accept it that easy. Maybe Wooyoung is just a crazy loner with weird tattoos and armour. And how come he doesn’t feel cold wearing nothing but leather pants? He must be senile.

“Look, why is it so hard to believe you’re a result of our genetic engineering, but yet you have aliens invading this planet and you deal with that knowledge pretty well? Ah, I guess I should’ve waited more to reveal this to you, but we don’t have that much time, Junho. I healed you using my energy, isn’t that enough of a proof?” Wooyoung doesn’t look angry as he speaks and Junho thinks he should test him some more.

“Do something else. What are you super humans capable of that we are not?”

“I’m hot.”

“Huh?” Junho almost chokes.

“Literally, touch my skin. Our skin feels much hotter than yours.”

Junho’s doubtful, but his curiosity wins as his fingers lay on Wooyoung’s chest. His eyes shoot up instantly and he stares at Wooyoung’s eyes. “You’re burning!”

“I’m not. I’m just full of energy you don’t have. This energy is what helps me heal people. I’m also much stronger, my race use telepathy to communicate. And these,” Wooyoung points at his hip and neck, “these are not so called tattoos – we’re born with them. Also, we’re more intelligent.”

Junho rolls his eyes even though Wooyoung doesn’t really brag. “Then why did you create us more inferior to you? We’re lacking so much.”

“I’ll answer this later,” Wooyoung grins. “What I want now is for you to join me.”

“What happens if I don’t?”

“You’ll miss a chance to have a new life.” Wooyoung’s straightforward and Junho’s intrigued by his answer.

“Will you fight against the water-carriers?”

“No, not in the way you imagine it. Not yet.” Wooyoung shrugs and gets up. “If you accept my offer, I’ll take you to our planet.”


	2. Chapter 2

It’s not that tough to give a positive answer, because every other planet would be a better and safer place to live than Earth. Junho nods and Wooyoung smiles at him, probably knowing Junho didn’t have any ideas to refuse a chance to survive to begin with. Silence engulfs them and only the small fire in a cresset jumps continuously. Junho thinks. He thinks it’s not fair that only after 10 years, he gets help. What about the millions of other people dying? He swallows hard and glances at his saviour, who’s staring at the only source of light in this cave.

Why did the super human race have to wait so long to decide that they have to save their creation? Junho has no idea what feelings super humans have and what kind of personalities they own, but he thinks inhabitants of Earth might be like lab rats to them. Junho’s full of pessimistic thoughts, but his optimism has disappeared alongside every human life that was by his side for these last 10 years. At the age of 26, why is he the only one of his crew to stay alive? Why does a saviour show up only at the most dramatic point of his life? No, Junho shakes his head. His death wouldn’t be that dramatic, because seeing people die had a greater impact in his life. And yet, his life is still in his hands.

“But why me?..” He whispers and forgets he’s not alone. It’s been a while.

“What?” Wooyoung looks at him surprised.

Junho looks lost for a few moments, but then he regains his composure. “Why didn’t you come a few years earlier when many more of us could’ve been saved? Why did you wait till there were only a few thousand of us left? Because right now, I feel like a guinea pig.”

Wooyoung sits down and leans back, placing his arms on top of his knees. It seems like he’s trying to choose the right words, because Junho’s hurt. And he has all the rights to feel like this. “I must be honest with you, Junho. There was no way for us to save millions of people. We’ve been watching over you and waiting for the right time. We wanted to save the strongest ones, because it’s been our primary goal ever since the beginning. We wanted mankind to develop and reach, if not our level, then something similar to us.” Wooyoung sighs as he notices Junho’s stern expression. “But you weren’t developing fast enough. Every new invention was secretly inspired by us. We’d implant an idea in someone’s head or give some hints, so you’d develop faster. Only small amounts of people would invent something exquisite and these people were closest to our race genetically. All these geniuses, psychics and talented people in general – they were, in a way like, us. We knew at some point we’d have to... winnow out people. Don’t look at me like this.”

“Do you even know how all of this sounds to me? I’m not even sure if I want to be saved by you.” Junho grits his teeth in anger.

“I do. Before you judge us, just let me tell you that killing someone is not something that’s easily done in our society. We didn’t kill any humans. This is why our race is so different from yours.”

Junho looks away and licks his lips quickly. It’s not easy to admit, but humans have done many ugly things to each other. Junho calms down a bit and exhales, returning his gaze to Wooyoung. “I’m not a genius or a fucking psychic, so why did you save me?”

Wooyoung looks relaxed as he scratches his forehead. “You’re strong. And I’m not talking only about physical side. I’ve been watching you for a few days,” Wooyoung grins when Junho leans forward surprised. “Don’t be so shocked. I had to make sure you weren’t crazy.”

“I’m flattered. But that’s still creepy. You’re creepy. I really can’t deal with all this information.” Junho waves his hand and leans back.

Wooyoung keeps smiling, as Junho seems to be a very amusing human. “You can. That’s why you’re still here and not running away from me.” Junho rolls his eyes, but doesn’t say anything in protest. “And about your physical strength. If it wasn’t for that toxic blood, I’m sure you’d have won against that alien. You seem to have some training in martial arts.”

“My father owned a martial arts school. He thought it’d be useful if I knew a trick or two.” Junho shrugs. “Who knew he’d be right?” He chokes slightly and reaches for his backpack. His throat feels very dry. Junho grabs a bottle and drinks everything to the last drop. This is not good, he thinks. “I need more water. This was my last bottle.”

“Great. We can leave soon, it’s noon already.”

It’s hot outside, and Junho’s eyes take some time to adjust to the bright sunlight. He wonders if they could walk in this heat and suddenly feels dejected. Junho’s motorcycle is out of gas, there are no horses, and it’s already bad enough to be out of water in the middle of Gobi desert. Just then, Wooyoung stops and Junho almost bumps into his back. He looks past Wooyoung’s shoulder and wonders why the hell he stopped so abruptly. There’s nothing to stop for.

“Is something wrong?” He asks, hoping for a good answer.

“No, everything is perfect. Stay here.” Wooyoung takes a few steps forward, lifts his arms to shoulder level and closes his eyes. Junho thinks his eyes are playing tricks, but it happens again, and he’s sure Wooyoung’s tattoos actually flash like mini lightning a few times. Junho almost jumps back when a weird vehicle appears out of nowhere. It looks like a hybrid between a small aircraft and a motorcycle and it hovers above the ground.

“What the hell is this? We have robots, but I haven’t seen anything like that before. It’s like... A bird... Sort of...” Junho is at loss for words.

“How do I explain this?.. Hmm...” Wooyoung thinks for a moment. “If it’s easier for you, you can call it an airbike, I suppose. It doesn’t need fuel, it reacts to my energy. We’re connected like tree and water. There’s another difference for you. Our technology is not entirely mechanic. We’re linked to our equipment as if it was a piece of nature. Our birthmarks are what make them work. These machines have a core made from our individual energy.”

Junho just stares at Wooyoung, his eyes wide despite the sun. “I’m not sure I get it.”

Wooyoung smiles faintly. “Take a carcass of a car, extract some of your energy into a sphere, and put it inside of the carcass. Now activate it with your energy, and it will work. No fuel, just your energy communicating with that small sphere inside the carcass. Is that clear?”

“It’s like your...child.” Junho speaks, unsure of his words. That’s the closest comparison he could make.

“In a way,” Wooyoung laughs. “As you can see, it can become invisible too.”

“If someone cut out your birthmarks, you’d get into huge trouble... It connects you to everything. Child of nature, huh?” Junho looks at Wooyoung, and he doesn’t look impressed at all. _Oh_ , Junho realises he said too much. “It’s not like I’m going to do that to you or anything, but you shouldn’t reveal it to other people. Just saying.”

“I told you because I trust you.” Wooyoung’s cold voice sends a shiver down Junho’s spine, and he realises some thoughts should be kept unspoken. Wooyoung knows what he’s doing, especially if he’s willing to reveal some secrets to Junho. What if he can also read minds? Junho has no clue about that, since Wooyoung’s race is capable of communicating through telepathy.

“Sorry.” Junho feels guilty.

“Apology accepted. Now sit behind me and hold tight. We’re going to find us some water today.” Wooyoung jumps on his airbike first and Junho follows, pondering where exactly he should hold on to. “What are you doing?” Wooyoung asks as Junho keeps fidgeting behind him.

“Where do I hold onto?..”

“I thought you were familiar with where people hold onto when they ride a motorcycle. It’s the same on this one too. You won’t burn if you touch my skin, you know... That hurts my feelings to think you need to ask me such things, Junho.”

Junho purses his lips and hugs Wooyoung’s waist from behind, avoiding the sharp spikes on his shoulder. He’s hot, but not hot enough to burn him. Junho can deal with this. However, it’s really odd to touch someone’s skin after such a long time. This heat is relaxing and Junho exhales deeply as his forehead touches the birthmark on Wooyoung’s neck. He doesn’t want to let go. “Comfortable enough?” Wooyoung asks, and even though Junho can’t see his face, he can feel the latter’s grinning. He must know what kind of effect this body contact has on Junho.

“Yeah,” Junho answers and pulls his face away from Wooyoung’s back.

“Good. Let’s look at this map here.” Wooyoung presses his palm on the dashboard and a vivid hologram appears. Junho watches it as Wooyoung zooms in, and he notices a road not too far away from here. “Let’s try our luck. It says there should be some sort of a building a few hundred kilometres away.” Wooyoung holds on a wheel and they lunge forward without a sound.

Everything around is dead, no sign of living beings. Wooyoung stops his airbike and Junho starts missing that strong fresh wind. It’s hot again, and he feels a drop of sweat roll down his temple. They are in front of a very old gas station with an even older wooden house behind it. It’s apparent no one’s living here anymore, as the territory has many spiky weeds and no clean path. They jump off the vehicle and it becomes invisible. _How convenient_ , Junho thinks, feeling jealous for a brief moment.

Wooyoung looks at him and presses a finger against his lips. Junho understands this means they might not be the only ones here and they must scan the area first. They walk silently to the gas station, which has two gas pumps and a small shop. They enter it, and it’s clear they’re alone in that tiny shop. Junho looks through the shelves and doesn’t find much food, most of it isn’t edible now, but he grabs a few things and fills up his bag. Wooyoung moves his head and they leave the shop.

The house isn’t that big even though it has two floors. The door is locked though, as if the owners were expecting to be back someday. That’s probably not going to happen, Junho thinks, and sadness overcomes him. Wooyoung does some magic and the door is opened. They look around on the first floor quickly, and when they find nothing threatening, they move onto the second floor.

There’s so much dust Junho has to squeeze his nose to refrain from sneezing. Wooyoung is in another room when Junho opens the bathroom door and yelps, falling on the ground. He looks at 3 clothed skeletons hanging from the ceiling and tears well up in his eyes, because he understands these people chose suicide over continuous suffering and no hope. Just like his sister after their parents were killed.

He doesn’t realise he’s actually sobbing as these grim memories fill his exhausted mind, and Junho can’t stop himself from crying. He doesn’t remember when the last time he cried was, but no amount of tears would wash away everything he has endured during all these years. It pains him to feel helpless, useless. He can’t accept the fact he’s the only one alive, and once again, he wants to vanish. Junho doesn’t know what keeps him here, he doesn’t know why he still keeps fighting, and he doesn’t know if he has the right to stay alive. It pains him that he can’t find the answer. The only thing he can think of is hope, but how stupid must one be to hope for something good after so much suffering? Junho can’t measure it. He can’t measure his strength and he thinks he might be less of a human now, because only someone who’s lost all of humanity can keep on existing in this world. Like these weeds outside. Junho feels like a weed.

He flinches when that soothing heat surrounds him and Wooyoung’s arms circle around him from behind. If someone tried to hold him like this 10 years ago, he would’ve shunned them away, but it’s different this time. Junho accepts this compassion. It’s a luxury these days, and Junho can’t refuse it. Wooyoung embraces him tighter, and Junho feels his strength being replenished, nurtured. He feels it’s okay to cry, because he’s still human.

Wooyoung’s arms around him feel right.


	3. Chapter 3

Strong wind rattles the window and Junho calms down. His eyes feel immensely tired. The arms around him relax, but Wooyoung doesn't let go completely. Junho wipes away his tears, realising he's not showing the strongest and manliest side right now, so it makes him feel embarrassed. "Why were you crying?" Wooyoung asks bluntly.

Junho touches Wooyoung's wrists and breaks free from this soothing embrace. He turns around and sits in front of his new friend on the dusty floor. It's weird to have a friend. Junho notices Wooyoung's spiky shoulder armour sitting on top of the bed and thinks it's very considerate of him to take his time to remove that thing just to console Junho with a hug. "Many reasons," he speaks as his gaze fixates on the longest spike.

"I really want to understand you." Wooyoung's words surprise Junho.

"I think this ruined world is enough of an explanation, but since you're asking... Okay." Junho's eye feels itchy and he scratches it. "I've lost many dear people. Like this family, we all have suffered enough and they chose suicide just like my sister. You can't possibly understand this, because you have to live through it. I don't even know why you're asking such an obvious thing. This existence is challenging and dreadful. I thought you understood me and that's why you took your time to console me." Junho feels a bit disappointed, as Wooyoung doesn’t show much compassion.

"I wasn't trying to console you."

Junho's immediately taken aback by his words. "What?"

"I was doing something I saw your race do when someone's crying. It appears to be a natural reaction." Junho frowns. He didn't expect this answer. It sounds too alien.

"Wait, wait... What's that supposed to mean?"

Wooyoung purses his lips for a brief moment and exhales. "I guess this is where I should answer your earlier question. Why did we create you inferior to us?"

"Well..?" Junho's impatient. This person is confusing him.

"When we changed our DNA and created Earth people, we did something to make sure you're really opposite from us, for example, the removal of birthmark. Junho, we don't have feelings. I mean, it's like we have this barrier that pushes our personal emotions aside, and we can't really feel much of it. You see me do some things similar to you, because I studied some resources on how to act in certain situations. However, I don't really feel anything." He stops talking and looks at Junho with a blank face, while Junho's face is a pure reflection of disappointment and disbelief.

"You're not a human. You're a robot." Junho mumbles, feeling hurt.

"I'm not a robot. I have emotions, but they're all locked. They're unnecessary. That's how our race became advanced, because we're very rational and we do everything to develop our society, ignoring our own personal needs and emotions. But it was beginning to burden us. Thus, we created you. Our Elder realised our lack of emotions could become of a vital problem one day and he thought creating you would help us to develop ourselves so we could use that knowledge to our advantage. As you've noticed, Universe is full of different entities. We fought against few and we won. Nevertheless, there were a few times when fighting only using our advanced technology wouldn't help us that much. Other species seemed to have more passion about defeating us, whereas we lacked their greediness and treachery. It almost brought us to an end because they were out of control, unlike us. They were radical." Wooyoung ends his business-like explanation.

Junho clutches his fists. He almost wishes he didn't know any of this. "I can't believe this... Do you have any feelings at all? Or was it all just act you learned watching movies and whatnot?"

"Joy is my strongest emotion. It's positive, so it's a good one to have."

Junho looks down at his ankles and examines his brown boots as he thinks. If Wooyoung is pretty much a superior human with no useless emotions, what about..? Junho clears his throat. "Do you even know what love is?"

"Love?" Wooyoung smiles. "It must be something nice, but irrational."

"Don't you have anyone you love? Or at least feel passionate about?" Junho stares at him hopefully.

"I have no knowledge of that feeling. I guess the closest to your so-called love is respect. We respect each other."

"I can't imagine a woman surviving without love... Respect, pft..." Junho rolls his eyes and somehow feels dejected. The more he know about Wooyoung and his super human race, the more he’s disappointed.

"Our women get enough respect."

"Oh, shut the fuck up with your respect." Junho can't take this anymore and stands up, ignoring Wooyoung's slightly surprised face. "You'd tell a woman you respect her and don't love her, you'd be killed at least mentally here. Just what did I get myself into?.." Junho places hands on his hips and shakes his head. "I just don't get one thing. You had hundreds of years to develop yourselves while watching us, but you tell me your strongest emotion is joy. How the fuck will it help to conquer those greedy and cunning species?"

"That's why we're saving you. We need you to help us. Humans have been fighting against each other ever since their creation, and we need those war tactics to help our kind. And you," Wooyoung jumps on his feet quickly, touches Junho's shoulder, and leans in. "You're a very useful asset to us."

Junho slaps his hand away and closes the bathroom door abruptly, leaving the dead family behind it. He's had enough of this alien bullshit. "You know what, you can go back to your peaceful hippie planet and play home there. I'm not joining this idiocy. How am I supposed to have a meaningful life with boring and dull people like you? I'm out. Seriously. I'd rather die on this planet while having an interesting fight than spend my life like an old man in an elderly nursing home." Junho goes past Wooyoung and the latter catches him by his arm. Junho doesn't look at him.

"Even if you want to stay here and die trying to survive, you don't have any food left. You can't get water that easily. You can't travel without gas. You can't have a steady life and home. Stop being so emotional and calm down. Be rational."

Wooyoung's calm voice annoys Junho even more, and he pushes Wooyoung angrily. The latter hits the wall, wearing a blank expression on his face. "Fuck off. It pains me to see someone so emotionless when I've been through so much shit. What do you even know about life? Fuck your advanced technology, and your awesome connection between nature and yourself. You don't know what real life is. Get real, you alien creep." Junho leaves the room and hears Wooyoung saying _‘Don't reject this opportunity, we need you.’_

Junho storms out of the house and kicks a stone, sending it further carelessly. Junho feels so offended his fists are shaking, because Wooyoung is like an empty canvas behind glass. No emotion can soil it. It‘s just sitting there safely and avoiding any external forces. It must be very convenient to live like this, and Junho‘s blood boils, because Junho is the complete opposite. He‘s like a match that flares up quickly.

It‘s been awhile since he felt betrayed, but now that feeling consumes him. When he thought someone he could share his horrid experiences with appeared, it turned out to be just an act. Junho thinks Wooyoung doesn‘t deserve to see that fragile side of him and he gave in way too easy. He should‘ve pushed him away when Wooyoung showed this fake affection. Junho sighs and blames himself for becoming so weak. He was too fast to judge a person he barely knew. Junho assumed he would understand him, but he was wrong. Being alone is easier – you don‘t depend on anyone.

Junho walks behind the house and his eyes notice an old solar-powered bicycle. His eyes catch something even more interesting, and Junho runs to the object. There’s a few solar panels attached to some sort of a reservoir lid on the ground and Junho’s jaw hangs open. “No way,” he mutters. Junho runs back inside the house and rushes into a bathroom on the first floor. If his assumptions are right, those solar panels might be meant for heating the water from that old reservoir.

Junho turns the tap on and sees a brown stream of water run out of the shower head. It takes around a minute for the rust to wash off and there’s clear water running through Junho’s fingers. It’s warm and Junho smiles widely, because for the first time in hell knows how many weeks, he’s going to enjoy a decent shower.

He strips off his clothes immediately, jumps into the bathtub, and closes the grey curtain. It’s overwhelming. Junho sighs deeply and buries his face underneath the warm stream, savouring every second of these glorious moments. He can feel his muscles relax upon the touch of this magic liquid, and Junho moans _‘Oh, God.’_

Junho finds a soap bar and rubs it all over his body, massaging his hungry skin. There’s also a bottle of shampoo, and Junho doesn’t even care about the expiration date as the thick liquid still smells good, just like fresh vanilla. He rinses his hair slowly and lets the pleasant water stream wash it all away. He doesn’t count minutes, but Junho feels his fingertips getting wrinkly.

It’s not easy to turn the tap off, but Junho knows he doesn’t have much time left before the sunset. He pulls the curtain and is startled to such extent that he slips in a bathtub while trying to grab on the curtain, but Wooyoung catches him before it’s too late, and Junho lands on top of him with a loud thud. Junho’s heart is beating so fast, it takes a couple of moments to regain his senses. Junho jumps on his feet, throwing daggers with his eyes at Wooyoung. “Are you fucking crazy?! Who the hell creeps on someone like this, I could’ve broken my neck in there!”

Wooyoung stands up and tilts his head, making himself look even creepier. “But I saved you.”

“If you weren’t here in the first place, everything would’ve gone just fine!” Junho screams, his heart still not calm enough. “Whatever. What do you want? I thought you left me.”

“I’ve thought about it.” Wooyoung takes a step closer to Junho. “You were talking about love. If it’s sex you want, I don’t have any problem with that.” He states like a businessman. “And your reproductive organs seem to be just fine.” Wooyoung looks down and Junho holds onto the ripped shower curtain tighter, covering his manhood.

“That must be the shittiest pick up line ever.” Junho answers coldly. “ _Oh, your reproductive organs are so brilliant, we should be fuck buddies for the sake of my alien planet._ ” Junho mimics Wooyoung in a ridiculous high-pitched voice, and Wooyoung laughs unexpectedly, surprising Junho. “Stop your act.”

“I’m not acting. You’re funny. So, how about it?” He smiles at Junho’s unimpressed face.

“Listen. I’m not desperate enough to sell my body. I’d rather enjoy my hand than ruin my precious reproductive organs for on dull super human with super alien attitude. You might be hot in all aspects, ” Junho stares at Wooyoung up and down, the latter rising his eyebrows. “But you’re just an empty canvas.”

Junho turns around and grabs a towel, ready to go to another room to look for new clothes, when Wooyoung’s voice stops him in the doorway. “That’s still rude of you to talk to me like this. I might not have strong emotions, but I have my dignity as well.” Junho looks at him and feels a bit guilty, but his own dignity is bruised too much for that feeling to last long.

“Your dignity is none of my concern.”

Junho ignores Wooyoung’s existence as he makes noodle soup, praying these noodles wouldn’t turn into a gummy mass. Basically all food is past the expiration date, and Wooyoung’s words about the lack of food appear on his mind. That’s true, he knows, but he doesn’t want to give up just yet. Even if it’s irrational, as Wooyoung would say.

Junho’s done with his not-so-tasty soup, and he notices Wooyoung in the corner opening a small bag. He takes a small package and opens it. The thing he takes out and bites looks like a chocolate bar and Junho is confused. Does he have food? “What is that thing you’re eating?”

“Oh, just something similar to your food pills, except this bar is enough for a week.” Wooyoung answers deliberately.

“You asshole. You have food substitute and you watch me starve? You’re seriously mental. If you had any sense, you’d have shared it with me!”

“You didn’t ask me. And I wouldn’t share it anyway. I need to survive as well.” His answer kills Junho and he swears to shove a bucket of stones up his throat someday.

“Screw this, I’m going to sleep . You can be the watchdog since you’re full of energy.”

“I’m not bursting with energy, but fine, I’ll keep one eye open.”

Junho glances at the bag on top of the table and leaves the kitchen. Wooyoung’s going to pay for this and Junho knows how.

Wooyoung falls asleep eventually, his equipment and energy telling him this house is safe for the night. He falls asleep, thinking about Junho and how that man’s capable of thrusting so many emotions at him. He’s never experienced direct human contact before. Everything is new to Wooyoung, as he was assigned to find a useful human by the Elder himself. Watching Junho from afar didn’t make him look that feisty, but once he got into contact, Wooyoung realised this one’s not going to be easy to tame. But how can he even do that if he doesn’t know how that works? Wooyoung can’t use force against him, he doesn’t even feel like it, but sometimes... Sometimes Wooyoung thinks there’s something that...irks him? No, this can’t be the case. Wooyoung’s a calm warrior, but this mission is taking a lot of his energy. Balancing it out is getting difficult, but it’s nothing major.

Wooyoung can’t understand half of the things Junho means, but it’s not his duty to do so. He ignores Junho’s outbursts. However, his words sometimes make him wonder about the true meaning behind them, and this is where Wooyoung stops letting these things go under his skin. He’s not even capable of it, Wooyoung thinks. There must be a way to make Junho come with him.

Sunrays reach Wooyoung’s face and he wakes up, lifting his head off the kitchen table. His muscles feel strong and full of energy as Wooyoung stretches his limbs. He walks over to the bedroom where Junho’s sleeping and opens the door just to see the bed’s already empty. “Junho?” He calls out, but no one responds. Wooyoung checks the remaining rooms and feels something’s wrong here. He runs back to the kitchen and stares at the empty spot on the table.

His food bag and Junho are gone.


	4. Chapter 4

Junho takes another bite of Wooyoung’s food substitute bar as the stolen solar-powered bicycle moves forward. It’s not very fast, no match for Wooyoung’s advanced airbike to say the least, but it’s working and Junho’s fine with it. He thinks it’s very fortunate to find something like this bicycle these days when the only thing you can find without any effort is sand and pebbles. Junho doesn’t need to pedal it with his feet, thus saving his own energy. Solar power is awesome, Junho nods to himself, and finishes the stolen chocolate. He decides to label it as such, because it tastes similar and is pretty sweet.

Junho isn’t worried about Wooyoung. “He wouldn’t care about this food, would he?” Junho voices his thoughts out loud and the wind brings them past him. Wooyoung doesn’t have strong emotions, so he won’t care about being robbed. Junho bites on his lip and tries to believe his own reasoning. Right, there’s no need to think about it. But Junho does. He wonders if he should’ve left at least a couple of chocolates for Wooyoung. Junho used to be generous before all this hell broke loose. However, things have changed. His selfishness developed quite quickly, because he understood that that was what would help him survive, and he had been right. Junho tries to make that worm of conscience shut up and almost succeeds.

The sun is burning his skin like always and Junho wipes the sweat off his forehead. He glances at his new outfit which he took from the abandoned house, and it makes him feel fresh. It’s not that often that he gets a chance to change his attire and to shower as well. Junho notices a bird’s shadow following him and looks up, guessing that the vulture must be looking for food. “Not today, buddy.” Junho says, and it seems like the ominous bird understands as it turns west and leaves the human be this time.

Junho doesn’t really know where he’s going but the desert appears to have more cliffs and rocks in this area. He decides it’s a great opportunity to empty his bladder and turns towards the massive rocks. Junho stops the bicycle and jumps to the ground, a few pebbles digging deeper into his boots. He stretches quickly and hides his bicycle because he needs to look around for a bit and maybe climb higher to scan the area. Junho finds a suitable corner and unzips his white jeans.

When he’s done, Junho adjusts his backpack and makes his way towards the higher rocks. There’s something moving in his peripheral vision and he thinks it’s another vulture but when he turns his head, Junho realises it’s that damn airbike that’s faster than his bicycle. “Shit.” Junho runs up the rock, but the bag’s pulling him down and it’s harder than it seems to move quickly. Junho’s heartbeat spikes up when he glances back and sees Wooyoung running straight towards him.

Junho curses again and uses all his strength to run up the damned rock but when he reaches the top he notices too late that he has in fact reached the edge of a cliff. Junho’s terrified like never before as he tries his best to maintain his balance but the height makes him feel even dizzier and his body betrays him, making Junho move forward. His life flashes right before his eyes because he knows there’s no turning back. Flailing his arms won’t help anymore and Junho screams, his voice full of terror.

Just then his body freezes and every muscle stiffens, trying to support his physique. Wooyoung’s holding onto him by his backpack handle and Junho’s panting as his body is still dangerously leaning forward, all that dusty ground available for his body anytime. Junho’s body makes a cross shape as he leans and the only link between his life and death is Wooyoung. Again. “If I was acting according my own selfish emotions, I’d be watching you fall down this cliff. Is it that bad that I’m more rational than emotional?” Wooyoung asks.

“It depends.” Junho wheezes, gulping buckets of saliva down his throat.

“Do you really want to die?”

Junho turns his head back slowly, every muscle killing him with the action. His profile will have to be enough for Wooyoung, he decides, not willing to risk anymore. “Does it look like it?”

“Actually, it does. Firstly, this is the second time your life has been in my hands, and secondly, you stole my food, knowing I could die without it. So, yes, it does look like you want to die. The only thing that could save you is my lack of emotions, isn’t it?”

“Then why am I still ripping my every muscle trying to keep my balance?” Junho’s getting impatient, beads of sweat rolling down and burning his eyes.

“Because even though I’m rational, I still need to punish you and show you who’s superior here. Why should I save your life again?” Wooyoung’s words make Junho clench his teeth.  
Junho turns away and looks at the welcoming ground below him. Really, but why? What’s the correct answer? Junho thinks and can’t think of any valid argument other than simply surviving or agreeing to help Wooyoung. He analyses this more and comes up with another discovery which should have been quite obvious, but which Junho has been ignoring till this exact moment. Is it really that bad to be less emotional? It’s actually very convenient, especially when one has to deal with survival or experiences too much mental pain. How come Junho hasn’t thought of this before? It clicks in his mind perfectly now.

“If I agree to help you... Will your people help me to put a barrier on my emotions?” Junho feels his body being jerked suddenly and his backpack removed in one swift motion and thrown away. His back meets the dusty ground and Junho coughs at the impact as Wooyoung lands on top of him. His left hand rests on Junho’s chest and the right one restrains his wrists above his head. Wooyoung leans in and stares at Junho suspiciously. The latter’s pretty sure Wooyoung can feel his rapid heartbeat and that makes him feel vulnerable. If Wooyoung can heal people, is he also capable of stopping their hearts just by transmitting his own energy? Junho bites on his lip nervously.

“Are you serious?” Wooyoung inquires. Trusting Junho isn’t that easy, but the man beneath him nods his head slowly. “Why would you want that? You said having no emotions doesn’t allow one to experience a real life.”

“Perhaps I’ve had enough of it. If your people get what they want from me, maybe they could repay me by making me into someone like you.” Somehow, Junho feels more placid and he wonders if it’s Wooyoung who’s doing this to him. But his hand doesn’t feel warmer than usual; there’s no tickling. Junho doesn’t understand. “I can’t live like this anymore. I need your help.” Junho whispers, and Wooyoung’s grip on his wrists loosens.

For a brief second, Wooyoung looks sympathetic but when Junho blinks, Wooyoung’s up on his feet and Junho’s free. He sits up and looks confused as Wooyoung takes Junho’s bag and retrieves his own food. Then, he throws the backpack at Junho and looks at him. “Honestly, I don’t know if it’s possible. We’re born like this. However, I’m not saying it’s 100% impossible. We won’t know until you’re examined by our scientists. I can’t promise anything to you. Would that change your decision?”

Junho sighs deeply and gets up, putting his backpack on. He dusts off his clothes and then proceeds to walk over to his saviour. Junho looks around slowly and avoids Wooyoung’s questioning gaze for a few moments. His answer is definite this time. Junho ignores the inner turmoil within him that is his emotions and keeps a cool head. “No. I think it’s about time I changed many things in my life. I owe you two lives. And even though you piss me off so much, I’ll go with you.”

Wooyoung gives him what seems like an honest smile and squeezes Junho’s shoulder. “Good. I can share my food with you, in that case.” Junho frowns, but doesn’t say anything back.

They walk down the rock and Junho wonders if Wooyoung knows their exact location. He should, since his airbike is full of various gadgets and advanced technology. “Do you know where we are?”

“We’re getting closer to the edge of this desert. So, we should be more careful of the aliens.”

Junho nods his head. “By the way, how did you find me? I’d say that’s pretty impressive seeing as I was trying to foul the trail.”

Wooyoung grins as he looks at Junho’s profile. “Every belonging of mine has a tracking bug.”

“Of course...” Junho isn’t very surprised and just shrugs it off. His limbs feel sore. Junho’s previous failure to run away from his one and only saviour has proven to be too much for his muscles. Balancing on the edge of a high cliff isn’t on his daily activities list and Wooyoung has punished him pretty badly. It’s as if Wooyoung’s a strict martial arts master, making his apprentice suffer ridiculous training.

When they reach Junho’s hidden bicycle he isn’t sure what to do with it. Junho doesn’t really want to abandon it but Wooyoung stares at him meaningfully and Junho can feel the latter objecting mentally. There’s only enough space for two people on his airbike. And why would they need a much slower bicycle even if they had means to bring? It’s weird, but Junho feels attached to the thing already. He knows it’s silly but he can’t explain it. Nevertheless, they must leave it.

Wooyoung grabs his arm and drags Junho away as he gives one last glance at the solar-powered bicycle, which will be buried in dust and sand in no time. Junho waves at it and Wooyoung snorts, surprising him. Right, joy is the least troublesome emotion to express. Wooyoung must be really glad to finally take Junho with him. That Elder from his planet will probably build him a shrine or something. Junho makes a silly face; Wooyoung doesn’t miss it and raises his eyebrow.

As Wooyoung stares at Junho’s face, the latter sees what’s in front of them and stops Wooyoung immediately, sensing this might get ugly. The only thing he’s glad about is that Wooyoung’s airbike is invisible and they might run away with it, leaving the five unknown men astonished. But he doesn’t know where Wooyoung has left it. “This isn’t good. Confronting a group is never good.” Junho whispers, and Wooyoung sees what he’s talking about.

“Enemies? With my skills and yours combined, we can win this one quickly.” Wooyoung replies calmly.

“This is where you’re wrong.” Junho watches the quintet as they walk towards them slowly. Wooyoung looks at him, a bit confused. “Never underestimate your enemy. Never.” Junho teaches his saviour, because he knows exactly who these people are. Necklaces of people’s ears and teeth those are what decorate their dirty necks. “Especially when you meet wild cannibals.”

Now Wooyoung stares at their enemies approaching them and his brain processes the unbelievable information that has just escaped Junho’s mouth. “They want to eat us? But we’re all human beings...”

“That’s their only goal. To get some fresh human meat.” Wooyoung notices a thick vein on Junho’s neck pop up. “Where’s your airbike? We could escape if it was close to us.”

“Well...” Wooyoung sighs, and Junho finally looks at him. “It’s behind them.”

“That means we’re fucked. Great news.” Junho rolls his eyes, but he doesn’t have the time to blame Wooyoung for his lack of cunning and strategic sense. That’s what Junho is here for. “Listen. Don’t talk to them, I will do the talking. Maybe we could divert their attention. I will go closer to them, while you move behind me towards your airbike. I’ll get your back. We can’t let them circle us. We must move all the time. They won’t suspect anything since your airbike is invisible. Got it?” Wooyoung nods and Junho exhales. They have to act quickly, but thoughtfully.

“How can we help you, gentlemen?” Junho says loudly to the approaching gang.

“Nothing much, boy.” The tallest one speaks in a raspy voice, the other ones smirking widely. “We’re lookin’ for some booze. And food.”

Everyone’s in defensive posture and Junho feels Wooyoung walk behind him. “You know what? I’ve got a secret to share with you.” Junho laughs, hiding his real intentions behind a mask of frivolousness.

“Oh, yeah? Like what?” Their tall leader smiles and Junho sees his black teeth. He can bet it smells like a rotten egg.

“Actually, there’s an abandoned shop nearby. Look at these clothes I got. There’s also plenty of water... It has a solar-power based heating system. Pretty awesome in these circumstances.” Junho slaps his own thigh and the enemies look at each other, judging Junho’s clean clothes and hair. And also weighing up the possibility of him telling lies.

“So, you’re sayin’ there’s a cosy place nearby. Why ain’t ya stayin’ there?”

“Are you joking? Water-carriers would find me there easily. But during daytime it’s a pretty safe place.” Junho smirks and bluffs successfully as the cannibal gang seems to whisper about something. Junho uses this chance to glance at Wooyoung, who appears to be getting closer to his airbike, but then one of the gang members yells.

“Where the fuck is your friend going? We ain’t done here yet.” A short one screams, and both Junho and Wooyoung freeze.

“See, we can’t let ya go.” The leader spits and takes a step forward. “I’m sure there’s no meat in that shop and we’re hungry. Two people would be a huge feast.” He snarls and Junho knows this is it.

He glances at Wooyoung and yells _‘Go!’_ , but one of their heftiest enemies hurries towards the super human. Junho doesn’t have time to spare as the rest of the cannibals run to his side and he draws a machete out of his backpack before throwing it away for the battle. This makes his enemies stop just in time but Junho isn’t going to back down. This is a do or die situation and not the first one he has come across in his life. He knows exactly what he needs to do to survive. And to help Wooyoung.

Junho slashes the first victim’s neck and one body’s down. Another one tries to jump on his back but Junho uses all his force to elbow him and his attacker succumbs. Suddenly, he feels his arm burn as the only female of the cruel crew whips him with a lash, small blades cutting through his skin mercilessly. Junho screams but manages to lunge towards her and cut her arm off. He ducks quickly when another cannibal tries to kick him, but he can’t avoid the leader’s kick and falls on his knees, holding onto his injured arm.

Nevertheless, he ignores the pain and bounces off the ground quickly, kicking the leader right in his balls and instantly sending him into a knockdown. Junho can see blood all over the cannibal’s crotch and grins, but then another kick in his back makes him fall on his stomach. Junho rolls around fast and his eyes widen as the last enemy raises a spiky flail and is about to smash Junho’s head with it but stops in midair as his neck cracks and Wooyoung releases his head. “That’s three times now. I don’t know how you’re going to repay me.” Wooyoung smiles and reaches his hand towards Junho, who grabs it and stands up.

“What took you so long, though?” Junho mocks him, but Wooyoung doesn’t care. He looks at Junho’s bleeding arm and touches it. Junho feels hot energy seeping through his wound and stares at Wooyoung in awe.

“I’m grateful, but we should check these idiots first...” Junho breathes out and closes his eyes, the tingling sensation warming his arm and making him forget about the enemies for a few important seconds.

The sensation is gone soon and when Junho opens his eyes, he sees, to his horror, the last cannibal's spiky flail stuck right in Wooyoung's hip. His companion looks puzzled and Junho acts first, drawing a small dagger out of his pocket and throwing it right into the enemy’s head, the one who he elbowed before, clearly, not strongly enough. To make sure everyone’s dead, Junho slits all their throats in a quick movement and looks at Wooyoung.

“Shit!” Junho catches him before he slumps and sees the heavy flail fall down. Only then does he realise that the ruined black patch of skin is Wooyoung’s birthmark. Junho feels terrified as he looks at Wooyoung’s severely damaged flesh but composes himself for both their sakes because Wooyoung’s losing consciousness and they need to find a safe place before it’s too late.

Junho grabs his bag and takes out a scarf, wrapping it around Wooyoung’s hips tightly, but sees it doesn’t help much as blood seeps through it quickly. Junho ignores his own injured arm as it’s nothing close to the severity of the super human’s injury. He puts his backpack on and carries Wooyoung over his shoulder.

Junho jumps on his reliable bicycle and thanks all the forces of nature for this thing. He then moves Wooyoung’s body onto his knees and holds him tightly, putting pressure on his ugly wound whilst also controlling the bicycle. He is relieved when he finds a cave after some time, and strikes up a lighter as he goes in deeper. Junho acts as if he’s on an autopilot when he lays Wooyoung’s body on his right side, to avoid tainting his wound. Then, he lights up a cresset and digs through his bag for the first aid kit. This is the most important belonging in Junho’s dangerous life.

He takes off the blood-drenched scarf and frowns at the sight: multiple deep, sharp cuts on Wooyoung’s hip and a ruined birthmark. “Can’t you heal yourself or something?” Junho asks no one in particular, and opens his first aid kit. It’s probably best that Wooyoung’s blacked out because, judging by the depth and width, Junho will have to sew those wounds up. Wooyoung’s still bleeding and he needs to act quickly.

Junho disinfects the wound and purses his lips as he pierces his saviour’s skin. The latter jolts and looks dizzy as he gazes at Junho. “Here, bite this.” He shoves the handle of his dagger into Wooyoung’s mouth and the super human looks puzzled at first but then, seeing a needle going towards his own damaged flesh, reclines his head, biting on the wood. There’s nothing pleasant about being stitched up and Wooyoung feels it with his body.

He passes out again and Junho works swiftly with a needle as if his own life depends on it. Junho’s glad he was smart enough to grab more bandages before leaving the house, and uses them for Wooyoung’s injury. He lets out a sigh of relaxation and looks at his own arm. It’s not bleeding anymore, maybe because Wooyoung managed to heal him even if it gave minimal benefit to Junho. He cleans his own injury and sews it up, enduring the pain like a warrior. _But I am one_ , he thinks as he finishes taking care of his arm.

Two warriors almost getting killed. Junho laughs and shakes his head. “This is insane.” His gaze comes back to Wooyoung and the latter’s just lying there, blacked out peacefully.

Three times. Ever since they’ve met, Junho’s been saved three times by Wooyoung. “Three to one now, Wooyoung. I have two of your lives left to save.” He smiles brightly and, at that moment, Wooyoung opens his eyes and they’re as wide as two wells. “What? Am I not right?” Junho laughs, because somehow Wooyoung looks purely surprised.

The tiny crescent of Junho’s eyes disappear altogether with his smile and he blinks, waiting for Wooyoung’s answer. “Do that again.” Wooyoung asks, but Junho doesn’t get it.

“Do what?”  
“Smile.” He insists, and stares at Junho, still lying on his healthy side.

“Why are you asking such weird things?” Junho laughs involuntarily and Wooyoung turns away quickly. “Wooyoung?” Junho’s voice is cheerful as he leans over the super human to get a better look at his astonished face. “What’s happening?”

Junho’s amused when Wooyoung looks back like a scared deer and continues staring at the taller male below him. “I feel weird.” Wooyoung exclaims, and touches Junho’s face. “ Wait.” Wooyoung touches his side and looks at the bandage, then looks back at Junho as if he’s just seen a unicorn. “ _Shit._ ”


	5. Chapter 5

Wooyoung cursed. It registers in Junho’s brain and he blinks a few times, staring at the baffled man below him. The personification of rationality has just done something very human-like. He sits back and yet he doesn’t break eye contact. There’s something off and Junho can think of only one thing. “Are you...” he gulps, “Are your powers gone?” Wooyoung shakes his head, but that doesn’t make Junho feel any better. There’s something wrong, yet Wooyoung doesn’t say anything else and it bothers him. “What is it? Tell me!” He’s growing impatient as Wooyoung closes his eyes and opens them slowly, fixing his gaze onto the roof of the cave.

“It’s been disrupted.” His voice wavers slightly, as if it’d be hard to comprehend his own words.

“Disrupted…? What?” Junho’s knees dig deeper into the sand when he leans forward, but Wooyoung’s eyes are still locked on the previous dark brown patch above him.

“My energy; my controls; my birthmark. Everything that I am.” Wooyoung starts breathing faster and Junho’s worried. Within moments his chest is heaving quickly and Wooyoung grasps onto his injured hip, frowning painfully. His moan sounds hurtful, too, and it sends shivers through Junho’s body. Sympathy surges through him as the man beside him has difficulty controlling whatever he has inside of him.

Suddenly, Wooyoung screams and rips off his shoulder armour, throwing it with such force that it actually sticks into the wall of the rock. The more Junho looks at Wooyoung, the more apparent it is that the super-human is getting out of control. He’s almost choking as his chest heaves up and down, and Wooyoung grips onto his dishevelled hair.

“Hey!” Junho yells, but Wooyoung doesn’t react. “Wooyoung!” He tries again and the latter just glances at him with a sorrowful look and turns away with his eyes closed. Junho doesn’t kneel anymore as he moves forward and touches Wooyoung’s cheeks, his strong hands imprisoning the super human’s head into his warm palms. “Open your eyes!” Junho demands and Wooyoung obliges. “Hey, look at me!” Wooyoung does and Junho swallows his worries down.

He’s got Wooyoung’s attention now, but his breathing still isn’t intact. Junho leans closer and locks their eyes. “Listen to me. Stay calm, everything’s okay.” Junho touches Wooyoung’s chest rests his hand on it gently. “You’re scared now, and that’s completely normal. Don’t let it take over you. I’m here and I’ll help you. Do you understand this?” Junho sees Wooyoung nod faintly and smiles. “Just think of something nice: A bucket of ice cream… kittens, maybe, I don't know. I‘m not sure if those exist in your planet, but they’re nice. Cute little balls of fur.” Junho’s left palm senses Wooyoung’s chest slowing down and he gives the super human another reassuring smile. “See, it’s all good, right?”

“When you smile like this, it all seems to be fine.” Wooyoung replies without a thought.

Junho’s surprised by this, but he laughs as he pulls away. “You don’t even know what that sounds like... Well, if it helps you I don’t mind it. But we still need to talk about your injury.” Junho sits back. “From what I gather your emotions are off. Am I right?”

Wooyoung sighs and Junho knows he was right. “All of us have two birthmarks when we’re born. The second one works like a back-up barrier.”

“It doesn’t let you lose your power?”

“No, it’s not like that. Even if both birthmarks became damaged, I wouldn’t lose my powers. As long as I’m alive, the energy I have will be there as well. You see,” Wooyoung exhales, because not only is he explaining things to Junho, he's also trying to accept his own explanation too. That in itself is quite difficult. “Birthmarks are like limiters. They regulate my energy flow. And since my birthmark is damaged... My limiter doesn’t allow me to control myself that well anymore. My emotions are leaking out alongside my energy. I’m wasting it, but not in the sense that I'd lose it at some point.”

“So if your second birthmark gets damaged too…?”

“I’d be a mess. I’d be shedding my energy – powers, strength, emotions in all directions– without even realising it! I’d be like a ferocious animal that can’t contain itself.” Wooyoung shudders and Junho knows that it’s a tough one. To someone who has never experienced emotions, this could be a whole new scary world, as he has no idea what emotions are and how to deal with them. Wooyoung might burn out and Junho can’t let that happen.

“You can count on me, Wooyoung. You won’t become a raging, powerful psycho, because I’ll be there to stop you.” Junho squeezes his shoulder and gets up. “We have to stay here till tomorrow morning and get some rest. _Especially_ you.” Junho glances at his jeans, which are far less of a white colour now as they had been decorated with blood. “You ruined my new jeans. I have spare shorts, so I forgive you this time.”

“Sorry...” Wooyoung looks like a kicked puppy and Junho’s definitely not used to that face, which makes him feel worse than he should.

He digs through the backpack and finds his cold-resistant foil sheet. It’s fairly chilly and the night’s about to consume the unfortunate day. Junho wraps himself in that silver material and sits calmly, but Wooyoung’s pitiful expression catches him by surprise. “What?”

“You know, I actually feel cold.” Junho pays attention to Wooyoung’s arms, which are hugging himself as he lies peacefully. He also notices his goose-skin and erected nipples.

“Yeah, I can see that...” Junho exhales and moves towards the super human, ready to restore some of the humanity that’s left within him. He lies beside Wooyoung and covers them both with the foil. “I suppose you can’t control your temperature.”

“Unfortunately... Sorry...” Wooyoung’s meek voice irritates Junho.

“Okay, stop being so pitiful, it disgusts me. You can control your emotions better than that.” He snaps and turns away from Wooyoung. Seconds later Junho’s body twitches. “What are you doing?” He’s pretty sure Wooyoung’s spooning him, and Junho’s heart beats faster as Wooyoung hugs his waist.

“I feel really cold.” Junho is aware of that because Wooyoung’s skin has never felt so cool before. “Probably because I lost blood. I really can’t stay away from your warmth.” His breath makes the hair on Junho's neck stand on end.

“Fine, fine. Just don’t try anything funny.” Junho closes his eyes, trying his best to ignore this new emotional and childish Wooyoung.

“Funny?”

Junho turns around quickly and bumps his nose into Wooyoung’s. He stares into his dark orbs, and it’s really difficult to act that stern when you’re looking at someone who’s so lost. He really can’t blame Wooyoung. Junho calms down because at least one person has to be responsible for emotion management here. “Nevermind, just sleep.” He turns away and allows Wooyoung to hug him closer. It actually feels nice and Junho falls asleep immediately.

Even when he’s half awake, Junho can feel how sore his body is. His head is resting on his arm and Junho’s not that determined to open his eyes yet as he groans into his skin. He feels a welcome rhythmical breeze on his face and thinks that it’s weird, because it shouldn’t be windy inside the cave. Junho frowns, but decides to open his eyes in the end.

A pair of cheerful eyes meets his and Junho pulls back quickly. “What the hell! Why are you staring at me from so up close?”

“You’re very handsome. I wanted to appreciate it.” Wooyoung smiles and Junho feels like someone switched the real Wooyoung with this overly-attached, blunt stalker.

“I didn’t think I’d say this, but I miss the asshole you. You just can’t speak like this and expect me to be happy to know you’re watching me sleep like a psycho. That’s not cool, man.” Junho sits up and Wooyoung does the same.

“I thought that compliments were a good way to interact with you, seeing as you’re so proud of who you are.” Wooyoung shrugs, and Junho chuckles. Maybe Wooyoung isn’t the lost cause yet. They just need more time.

“Just try to be... normal. Have some common sense and everything will be fine. The problem is you don’t know what common sense is...” Junho sighs. He doesn’t want to wear the dirty jeans anymore, so he jumps on his feet, takes off his pants and grabs black shorts. “I haven’t asked this yet, but where are we going? To your spaceship? Hey, eyes up here.” Junho points his fingers at his face, a bit disturbed by Wooyoung’s intense gaze on his bottom. He pulls up his shorts hurriedly and Wooyoung looks at his eyes, smiling.

“Star gates. Can I touch it? It looks… very soft…” Wooyoung reaches his hands towards Junho’s butt, but the latter slaps them away.

“No, you can't touch it. And what do you mean by star gates? Hey, look at my face when I’m talking to you!” Junho squats in front of him just to save his butt from further visual and physical assault. The variety of Wooyoung’s emotions seems to become a serious challenge for Junho. Squatting helps, and Wooyoung gazes at his face longingly.

“We don’t want to get unnecessary attention from the invaders, so we use star gates for travelling very long distances. There are 7 of them in this planet. The closest one to us is in India, and that’s our final destination. No, but really, can I touch it?” The super human proceeds reaching out his hand.

“Wooyoung!” Junho yells this time and grabs his shoulders. “I don’t know if I should be flattered or not, but you must control your arousal, okay?”

“Arousal?” He asks like a school kid and Junho’s temple twitches as he looks down, sighing.

“You said sex isn’t a problem for you, but you don’t know what arousal is? How do you mate with your women, then? You have to feel something to get yourself up!” Junho states matter-of-factly.

“Well, I don’t know. I haven’t been assigned to the reproductive department. I’m a warrior.” Wooyoung shrugs.

“Reproductive what?!” Junho yelps.

“It’s a department where the chosen ones mate with their assigned partner. It’s true - we don’t need feelings for that, because we get pills.” He explains it as if it wasn’t anything odd.

Junho’s brain was close to exploding. It sounds like a prostitution farm. Scratch that, a reproductive alien farm for super humans who have no feelings, yet mate for the sake of reproduction and... Junho’s eyes roll to the back of his head. He thinks he’s going to melt just by imagining a conveyor belt for literally fucking. Which also, that means that Wooyoung’s a virgin warrior alien.

When you think you’ve seen everything there’s always something that surpasses everything in your imagination.

“I wonder if you know what porn is...” Junho mumbles to himself.

“It was included in our Earthlings’ study course. Heterosexual and homosexual.” Junho stares at him with a defeated expression and shakes his head. This isn’t right. These super humans are just...

“Alright. That’s enough for today. You super humans are messed up. Let’s just forget everything and get going.” Junho packs his belongings quickly and puts his backpack on. When he looks at Wooyoung, he seems to be deep in thought. “Are you okay?”

Wooyoung looks up. “I don’t know... I feel empty when I don’t understand what you mean. This is very confusing. My amplitude of emotions is too wide and it’s hard to deal with it. I can’t define so many things.”

“You’ll get used to that. It takes time. Shall we go now?” Junho reaches his hand and Wooyoung takes it, allowing the latter to help him up. He groans in pain and almost succumbs in Junho’s embrace, but Junho helps to keep him steady. Junho glances at his bandage and realises that it has to be changed to avoid infection. “Stay still, I’ll take a look at your wound and change the bandage.”

“Okay.” Wooyoung holds onto Junho’s shoulder as the smaller man kneels and works on his wound.

Junho frowns when he sees it, but he’s glad it looks better than yesterday. It seems like Wooyoung’s healing faster than a regular human being, but there are no changes on his ruined birthmark, and Junho assumes it’s not going to heal itself. This is more than just a simple tissue. This birthmark that works as a limiter is a much more complex thing. Junho applies some ointment and changes the bandage slowly to not cause anymore pain. Wooyoung ruffles his curly hair and surprises him, but Junho doesn’t say anything against it. He decides it’s necessary for Wooyoung’s learning process.

When he’s done, Junho looks up and smiles. “You’re good to go.”

“Thank you.” Wooyoung’s voice sounds honest and Junho feels warm inside when Wooyoung keeps on stroking his hair gently. This is Wooyoung’s expression of gratitude, Junho thinks, and stands up, helping the latter out of the cave.

They both look at the vultures devouring their enemies as they pass them. The view’s not the prettiest one, so Junho just looks away and asks Wooyoung to do the same. There’s no benefit in witnessing a wild feast. He releases Wooyoung seeing how he’s regaining the strength but walks close by just in case. The airbike is still invisible when they halt in front of nothing. They stand like this for a while, but nothing’s appearing as Wooyoung keeps his arm straight in the level of his chest. Junho stares at his companion, noticing how tense his muscles are and he can only imagine what’s going on in his mind.

Wooyoung’s energy flow is inconsistent. That's enough to make him realise his energy inside the airbike won’t respond without enough effort and control. Junho watches Wooyoung closely and he hears the super human’s breathing getting faster as he’s clearly feeling impatient. “It’s okay. Compose yourself.”

Wooyoung’s eyes shift left and Junho feels like he’s just got stabbed by that cold glance. He has a foreboding that whatever’s going to happen will require his interference. He notices how Wooyoung’s knuckles turn white and his fist looks like a rock pulsing with hot blood. His body starts shaking slightly and Wooyoung grits his teeth. All his efforts to control the powers are met with no result and Wooyoung screams, stomps his feet onto the dusty ground and leaves a relatively deep mark, revealing how strong the super human is. And if it gets out of control, Junho’s not so sure he could actually do something about it. His own powers are limited.

Wooyoung closes his eyes and tries again, but he’s too distracted by his failure and inability to make his damn airbike become visible. “Fuck!” He yells, startling Junho, and lunges forward to the rock pillar close to him and kicks it with so much violence it starts crumbling like a pile of boxes. “Fuck!” Wooyoung screams and continues his assault, making the hole in the rock deeper.

Junho doesn’t know what to do. He’s genuinely terrified, because he’s no match for a raging Wooyoung. He has to do something quickly to stop Wooyoung from injuring himself further. There has to be a way to calm him down.

Junho runs to him, and his heartbeat is frantic when he grabs Wooyoung’s face, pressing his lips against the latter’s. Junho kisses him hard and stares into Wooyoung’s staggered eyes, however, there’s no spurn. Wooyoung just clings onto Junho’s shirt and his body becomes immobile when Junho’s lips move against his.

Junho doesn’t know if it’s working or not, because Wooyoung closes his eyes and gives in. Junho can't think at all, because his own eyes are closed and there’s something so alluring about Wooyoung that he finds he cannot stop kissing him. Junho holds his neck tighter and deepens this ferocious kiss, invading the taller male’s mouth with his tongue.

Junho feels how Wooyoung’s skin gets hotter. He swears he can also feel some sort of an energy flowing inside of him as they’re kissing, but Junho’s mind is too hazy to think more about it, his fingers digging deeper into the super human’s neck and head, bringing their mouths as close as possible. There’s nothing gentle about it, both of them indulging in the primal feeling of lust.

One of Wooyoung’s hands hug Junho’s waist as the other one travels down his back and finally gets a hold of that the soft flesh that’s covered by shorts. It works like a wakeup call and Junho withdraws his bruised lips from Wooyoung’s.

He wants more. Wooyoung kisses him again, but Junho pulls away and holds onto the taller male’s neck to stop him. They’re out of breath and Junho presses his forehead against Wooyoung’s, staring into his eyes. “No. We should stop this.”

“I don’t want to,” Wooyoung answers weakly.

“Wooyoung, you’re not the only one confused here right now. And with the last bits of my sanity left, I should tell you that we must get your control to a decent level, otherwise we’ll be in a huge trouble. We can’t stay in one place for a few days.” Junho licks his lips as he recedes from Wooyoung slightly, but the latter catches his hand and gazes at him with a determined expression.

“Just let me hold onto your hand. I think it should help. I don’t know why, but having direct body contact with you puts me at ease.” Wooyoung keeps staring at Junho expectantly.

Junho smiles faintly and doesn’t reject him. “Whatever works for you.” He nods and Wooyoung breaks their eye contact.

He holds onto Junho’s hand tighter and reaches his right arm forward. Junho looks at Wooyoung’s profile and notices the tattoo on his neck flashes, and a moment later, there’s his airbike in front of them. Wooyoung instantly throws his arms around Junho’s neck and squishes him in a tight embrace.

The feeling of accomplishment surges through that hug and Junho buries his nose into Wooyoung’s neck, smiling. He wonders if their chemistry has to do anything with this success, however, he’s pretty sure there’s so much changing inside Wooyoung and Junho realises there’s something changing within himself as well.

“Okay,” Junho pulls away. “Let’s learn how to control your airbike now. It’ll take some time, but it’s all good, isn’t it?”

“I’ll have to rely on your energy again.” Wooyoung grins.

“My energy?”

“I realised it’s possible to borrow some of your strong will. I’m lacking it and you have plenty. And maybe because my birthmark is damaged I can let your energy flow through me. I never knew that that was possible.” Wooyoung touches Junho’s chest. “Your energy is raw. It triggers mine.”

“Talk about good chemistry...” Wooyoung nods to Junho’s remark and grins wider. Together they can make this work.

It takes some time to make the airbike fly, but they succeed in the end. After countless attempts Wooyoung seems to get a hang of it as Junho sits behind him with his palms glued to the super human’s naked shoulders. Their trip isn’t very steady as Wooyoung’s emotion and energy level jumps up and down, making the airbike halt. Nevertheless, Junho can see the improvement.

And there’s nothing that his smile couldn’t do. Wooyoung’s weak against it, his rage’s always defeated by something as pure and simple as Junho’s lips which curl up quickly whenever Wooyoung starts to lose his temper, and that bright smile conceals his darker emotions.

This day passes too fast and they’re forced to end their erratic trip. Junho tells Wooyoung to go inside another cave as he decides to climb up the rock and scan the area himself. It’s weird that they haven’t met any water-carriers yet, as they’re getting closer to the end of the desert. Junho stares at the sunset and wonders if the rest of their trip will require more injuries. He hopes it’s not going to happen, but he has to be prepared all the time. And before anything bad happens, Junho expects Wooyoung’s emotions will be fine.

Junho also worries about the result of this journey. If they do reach star gates and travel to Wooyoung’s planet, then what is it going to be like there? Only now is he realising how little he knows about Wooyoung’s world-- but what he does know, he dislikes. Living in that planet sounds like living in a monotonous, yet advanced, clock factory.

And when they reach it – will Wooyoung’s birthmark get fixed? Junho scratches his arm nervously and looks at his shoes. Does he really want to get Wooyoung fixed?

He hears footsteps behind him and sighs. “I thought I told you to go inside that cave. You need more rest.”

“Very masterful. So, he chose you?” Junho turns around quickly and the first thing he notices is a black tattoo on the stranger’s jaw, which goes down to his neck and collarbone.

There’s no doubt about it, Junho thinks. He must be related to Wooyoung. But why is he here?


	6. Chapter 6

Junho’s uneasy despite the fact this stranger most likely won’t do any harm to him, but his defensive senses kick in and he’s careful. There’s probably only one person he can really trust, and that’s not him standing before Junho now. This man doesn’t look like he’d harm anything; his face is calm, and the intense look in his charcoal eyes is almost hypnotising as Junho finds himself staring right into those dark orbs. Junho gulps and notices he has no shoulder armour. There’s only one piece of shiny iron covering his forearm, just like Wooyoung’s. It’s really hard to tell what this super human is capable of since it doesn’t seem like he’s of any threat, but Junho’s sure there’s lots of energy hiding beneath that tanned skin. He also must be able to regulate his temperature, Junho decides when he looks at the identical black leather pants – the only piece of clothing on the stranger’s body. His hair is dark and short, framing the sharp-looking face. The man tilts his head slightly and his eyebrows cast a dark shadow, making him look even more mysterious. He’s as captivating as Wooyoung and Junho thinks maybe it’s good they cannot feel any strong emotions, because there would be thousands of broken hearts in that super human planet, and dozens of love triangles, squares, pentagons and whatnot.

Junho lifts his chin slightly. “Chose? Now you make it sound like I was graced by a divine entity.” He makes it clear he doesn’t think super humans should be thought of as majestic creatures as they do. Perhaps they are, a bit, Junho thinks. But just a bit.

“In a way, yes.” The stranger smiles and takes a step closer, not thinking much of Junho’s stern face. “But let’s not dwell on this now, we should hide. The sun's almost set and I saw a few enemies not too far away. Take me to Wooyoung.”

Junho doesn’t protest and walks past the man. Mentioning water-carriers always makes him work quickly and he doesn’t have a death wish. Besides, Wooyoung’s not healed completely and perhaps his kindred can do the deed. “Who are you?” He asks as they get inside the cave and walk beside each other.

“I’m Wooyoung’s team leader, my na-”

“Minjun!” Wooyoung sounds too excited, but it’s nothing compared to Minjun’s surprised face when his subordinate throws his arms around Minjun’s neck and locks him in a tight embrace, making the older super human hug him back to maintain their balance due to the sudden collision. Minjun stares at Junho, waiting for an explanation, but Junho just snickers. Wooyoung pulls back and looks like an overgrown kid whose parent just showed up after weeks of absence in the kindergarten. He grabs Minjun’s hand and holds onto it, making the latter give more confused glances at both men.

“Wooyoung, this is not exactly how you should greet me.” He stares at the younger male.

“I know! But I’m very happy to see you!” He bounces like a ball with Minjun’s hand in his, and Junho bites his lip, looking away for a few seconds. “So many things happened!”

“Yes, I’m aware of that...” Minjun pulls his hand out of Wooyoung’s tight grip. “Just like I thought, there’s something wrong with your energy.”

“Did you know?” Junho asks without hesitation, because it appears Minjun came here on purpose and that purpose is grinning a bit too much in front of his superior.

“I couldn’t contact him anymore, so I assumed his energy flow was off. Something must’ve happened.” Junho’s reminded of the super humans’ ability to contact each other using telepathy and nods faintly.

“Yeah... But we’re working on it.”

“Junho’s amazing! I’ve learned so much already, just wait till I tell you all about it!” Wooyoung nods several times hastily, like a clockwork soldier.

Junho decides it’s time to help Wooyoung with his over-excitement and takes his hand, the latter’s staring back at him instantly. “Wooyoung, calm down. Stop acting like a dog.”

Wooyoung sighs, closes his eyes and concentrates, letting Junho’s energy flow through him. Seconds later, he opens his eyes and looks at Minjun as if nothing’s happened. Junho releases his hand and he’s sure everything’s intact now. “He was injured.”

“How’s that possible?” Asks Minjun and sounds a bit reprimanding. Junho thinks it can’t be easy to comprehend defeat when you’re so advanced and yet one of your subordinates was injured. Sometimes a perfect mirror has barely visible cracks beneath its frame too.

“He just wanted to help me. That’s all.” Junho shrugs.

“Help you?” Minjun doesn’t look convinced.

“Yeah, what’s so weird about that?”

“I assume you know quite a lot about our kind by now. We don’t really _help_ someone, unless it’s an order. Helping someone is acting on their own accord based on one’s emotions. We’re not capable of that. Perhaps...” Minjun crosses arms over his chest. “Since he chose you, maybe he put his own life in danger to help ensure his mission's success. Yes.” Minjun nods to himself.

Junho closes his eyes and shakes his head. “This is so... super human-like.” He mumbles. “I guess this shouldn’t surprise me, but that sounds like he’d have left me to die if he hadn't chosen me? What does that mean, exactly? You choose people? Isn’t your mission to save every human being left alive on this Earth?”

Minjun looks at Wooyoung meaningfully, and the younger male seems a bit perplexed. Junho raises his eyebrows in question, but none of them are speaking. Junho feels as if this is getting somewhere he doesn’t like. “There’s no point in hiding it, I suppose. You’re coming with us anyway.” Minjun sighs and Junho’s heart sinks a bit. “We have precise information about who’s left on this planet. We were ordered to save only the most valuable people. To do so, we have to watch over the chosen candidates, evaluate them and choose.”

Something sharp squeezes Junho’s heart and he blinks slowly. “The rest of them... The rest of my kind... Will you leave them to die here?”

Junho feels Wooyoung’s defeated gaze on his profile, but he cannot concentrate on this now. All he can think about is this cruel selection. “Yes. There’s a certain number of people each of us can take, so-”

“How many?” Junho interrupts. “How many?!” He yells.

“Twenty. One person per super human.” Minjun answers simply.

Junho turns away, places his hand on the wall of the cave and presses his forehead to it, trying his best to contain his anger and disappointment. He didn’t think that much about Wooyoung’s words when he first said they wanted to save only the strongest ones, and Junho didn’t pry too much into it back then. He didn’t have the slightest idea there was only a certain number of people that were meant to be saved. In any case, Junho thought the number was far greater. However, he miscalculated.

It is not easy to accept this. And Junho doesn’t. He just buries his disappointment deep in the furthest corner of his mind and keeps on breathing steadily into the solid rock. There’s another thing he realises – he’s really lucky no matter how you look at it. Wooyoung saw something valuable in him, giving Junho a chance to survive.

Junho’s body twitches when he feels a hand stroking his back gently and that anger dissolves gradually. Maybe it is too soon to believe so, but Junho senses Wooyoung might actually understand this. He’s still learning, but nevertheless, Wooyoung’s showing a huge improvement as someone who has never had any feelings before. And then there’s Minjun. Someone who reminds him of the previous Wooyoung, but he has a different feel to it. Maybe because he’s a higher rank and older. Who knows. Junho’s too tired to think about it.

Junho turns around. “Can you heal Wooyoung?”

“Let me take a look at it.” Minjun comes closer to his junior and touches the bandage, making Wooyoung wince. “Sorry.” He proceeds moving his delicate fingers in a softer way and removes it completely. Minjun kneels immediately to have a better look, and his exhale sounds like _damn_ to Junho.

“So?” Junho’s impatient.

“Let me try something.” Minjun’s palms get close to the wound and he shuts his eyes, doing something Junho's clueless about. There’s only one thing happening that’s quite obvious, and Junho watches Wooyoung’s wounds closing up, astonished. However, his birthmark doesn’t look any better by the time all of Wooyoung’s injuries are gone. Minjun keeps his hands in front of the younger super human’s hip a bit longer, but then he stands up. “I cannot interfere with this birthmark and energy. I cannot heal something as complicated as our birthmarks. It’s blocking me.”

“Blocking?” Junho and Wooyoung ask in unison.

“Yes. Why are you so surprised, Wooyoung?”

“No particular reason. I guess my emotions are still messed up.” He smiles reassuringly, but Junho can feel him somehow-- he doesn’t know if it’s because their arms are touching-- but Junho’s pretty sure Wooyoung has just told his first lie. He didn't reveal one important thing to his superior: Junho's energy has access through his birthmark, and yet, Minjun doesn't. How can Junho's energy freely flow through him when a fellow super human's cannot?

“Fine. I need to assess your human,” Minjun states, drawing a very unimpressed expression out on Junho’s face.

“Excuse me, I’m not a piece of sausage,” he claims and Wooyoung snickers beside him, covering his mouth. “Please call me Junho.”

“Ah, forgive me. That was very rude of me, Junho.” Minjun beams with a wide smile plastered on his friendly face, and Junho feels like this super human is messing with his mind. _Must...resist_ , Junho grits his teeth. “Will you come closer to me?”

Junho looks at Wooyoung and the latter nods, meaning Minjun’s not going to eat him or anything. Junho takes a step forward and Minjun’s not satisfied with the distance, so he comes even closer. “Lift your arms up.”

Junho does, and Minjun does the same, but he touches Junho’s palms and traces his fingers down the human’s arms, sending tickling sensations through his nerve endings. He has no idea what Minjun’s doing and when he looks at Wooyoung, Junho notices how the latter’s face clouds up gradually as Minjun’s hands are moving down Junho’s biceps and land on his chest for a while. Junho can also see how Wooyoung’s muscles tighten, and the more he looks at this vessel of freshly bloomed emotions, Junho feels like... “Woah!” He yelps when Minjun’s fingers press against his hip bones, way too close to his private area. This touch is stronger than the previous ones. Minjun isn’t affected by the human’s surprised sound, but when his hands touch Junho’s butt, the apocalypse crashes upon them.

The next thing Junho knows is that Wooyoung’s back is glued to Junho’s chest, while his hand is squeezing Junho’s wrist and his other hand is on Minjun’s neck. Junho sees Wooyoung’s neck tattoo flash. This can’t be good. “Do not touch him,” Wooyoung hisses and does something that makes Minjun jump back swiftly, but he doesn’t retreat. The next moment, the situation is reversed as Minjun sends an invisible force from his palms right into Wooyoung’s damaged birthmark and grabs his wrists from behind.

Now Junho’s staring at Wooyoung’s pained expression as Minjun’s standing behind him with his junior’s wrists locked in his powerful hands. “Wooyoung-ah, calm down,” He whispers into his ear, but it doesn’t give the much desired effect. Before it all gets worse, Junho runs quickly over to them and cradles Wooyoung’s face in his palms.

“Wooyoung. Concentrate. Just listen to my voice and breathe, yeah, like this.” Junho bobs his head back and forth slowly, like he has been doing whenever Wooyoung would start losing himself and it seems to help, because Wooyoung closes his eyes and listens to Junho’s calm voice telling him it’s all good. Junho then nods to Minjun and he releases his subordinate, who buries his face into Junho’s neck and hugs him tightly.

To say Junho’s worried is an understatement. He’s actually scared because he thought they got it all under control, but all it takes is for someone else to appear and Wooyoung’s a carousel of emotions all over again. The only thing that didn’t change is Junho’s ability to bring the sanity back to Wooyoung’s vicious heart. Junho embraces him and stares at Minjun past Wooyoung’s head. Minjun doesn’t seem too surprised this time, and it clicks in Junho’s mind. “You did this on purpose.”

“I had to know if my soldier is well enough to continue working on this mission. This doesn’t look good.” Minjun leans back with his arms crossed on his chest. “Though I have to admit the effect you have on him seems to work, but...”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to remove him from this mission.” Junho’s grip on Wooyoung’s body tightens, feeling as the super human wants to speak up against this. _No_ , Junho whispers and makes Wooyoung trust him on this one.

“This is what I should do, to be honest...” He shrugs.

“Don’t do it. Please.” Minjun eyes Junho and stays quiet. His face says nothing and it bugs Junho, because it’s not possible to defy a super human. Not with an emotionally damaged Wooyoung in his arms.

“Why?” He asks casually after a pause, but Junho’s sure there’s nothing casual about this question. This means a lot.

“What if by the time we reach the star gate, he’s in perfect control of his emotions? What if he becomes the first super human with well-controlled emotions? Wouldn’t it be a huge advantage to your race? Not some petty human being, but one of your kind who can actually control his emotions, energy, and everything else, just by his pure willpower. Wouldn’t that be a unique item to your nation?” Junho feels how Wooyoung grips on his shirt stronger, but he doesn’t let go of him yet. Junho needs to keep him steady, because they have a long way to go and they have to do it together. Also, Junho knows how to work his way through a super human’s mind. He’s had his practice with Wooyoung and he hopes it will work on Minjun too.

“If you’re trying to manipulate me, you’re doing a great job. Unlike Wooyoung, I’ve had past experiences with your kind. That’s why I’m his team leader and not the other way around.” Minjun smirks and there’s something sinister about it that it makes Junho feel uncomfortable. “However, I like the way you think. I don’t want to risk one of my soldiers, but I’m intrigued to see if this can work out. And if it does... Wooyoung will be a great asset to our race.”

Minjun looks too smart, Junho thinks. He’s rational and emotionless, but he’s just too smart and Junho’s baffled. Some of his facial expressions look intense even if he’s trying to hide it. Junho feels Wooyoung and Minjun are different somehow. Then he glances at Minjun’s body and notices another thing. “Where’s your other birthmark?”

Minjun’s lips curl up. “Right now it’s a very sensitive topic.” He glances at Wooyoung’s back. “But it’s on my butt. Why are you asking this now?”

“I just thought all of you had your birthmarks on the same places. But back to our previous topic...”

“Right. I covered only the positive side. And if Wooyoung is still not in control, we’ll just have to take some measures to restore the damaged birthmark, which means he will no longer be able to express emotions. Just the old rational Wooyoung.” Junho frowns at that thought. Wooyoung might be slightly psychotic, well, maybe more than slightly, but he feels alive now. “How can I be sure you’ll teach him control?”

“You can’t,” Junho smiles and Minjun arches his thick eyebrow. “You’ll have to trust me.”

“I cannot trust you,” Minjun unfolds his arms and comes closer to the pair. “But I can tell Wooyoung trusts you.” Minjun ruffles his junior’s hair and Junho finally releases him, completely sure he has given enough of time to make him feel at ease. Junho takes a step back when Wooyoung turns around and kneels on his right leg with his head bowed in front of Minjun.

“My apologies.” His voice isn’t loud, but he’s heard.

“I just hope this will end well. For all of us.” Minjun leans down and squeezes Wooyoung’s shoulder.

“Do not disappoint me.” Minjun turns around and is about to leave the cave when Junho’s voice stops him.

“Wait, aren’t you staying? It’s dangerous outside.”

“I have someone I must observe. I’m a team leader for a reason.” Minjun presses two fingers to his temple and smiles. “See you by the star gate.”

It’s very silent inside the cave and Wooyoung’s still on his knee when Junho squats in front of him. “Hey, we should go to sleep, it’s been a long day.” Wooyoung nods without looking at him and follows Junho.

They lie down and Junho covers their bodies with his precious foil, feeling a bit lonely when Wooyoung doesn’t spoon him and just lies on his back beside him, their arms touching softly. “Junho...” He speaks up after a few minutes.

“Yeah?”

“What was that feeling? The one that made me attack Minjun?” He sounds hurt and Junho’s now forced to think of a good answer.

Before he answers, Junho takes his time to think this through. Then, he asks something. “Describe what you were feeling.”

Wooyoung hesitates, but Junho turns his head to look at the latter’s profile and nudges him gently. “When he touched you... It felt like something pierced my chest. Like something was burning. Then you yelped, but he kept on touching you, and my mind went blank. All I knew was I had to get his hands off of you...”

Junho sighs and looks up, because he knows what it is and it burdens him. If Wooyoung indeed has such intense feelings for him... How is Junho going to deal with this? He cannot come up with an answer, because Junho might as well become a burden to Wooyoung. When Minjun told him he might take Wooyoung away from him it set up an internal fire within him as well. Junho cannot deny this anymore, because there is no point in doing that. He cares as much about Wooyoung as the super human does about him.

“Jealousy. It’s jealousy, Wooyoung-ah...” Junho hears a soft snore and looks at Wooyoung’s face turned to his side. He’s already dreaming about something.

At this point, Junho knows they’re both screwed. First, because they have to prove Minjun something. Second, because teaching and learning self-control is one of the most challenging things. Third, because Junho selfishly wants to keep _this_ Wooyoung beside him.


	7. Chapter 7

He wakes up first, feeling a lot better now that he doesn‘t need to restrict the movements anymore - all thanks to Minjun‘s healing power. Super humans do not need much sleep; Wooyoung usually sleeps for 5 hours. However, it‘s different now. Wooyoung uses so much energy just to contain his emotions on a neutral level, he notices his sleeping hours have increased to about 7. And still, Junho sleeps more.

Wooyoung rolls on his side, but remembers Junho’s words about staring from up close as a pretty rude behaviour, and he watches from what he thinks is a decent range. Junho‘s laying on his stomach, his face turned towards Wooyoung. A small source of light coming from the lantern dances with soft shadows on the human’s face, which fascinates Wooyoung. He scoots a little closer, thinking this distance is still appropriate.

Wooyoung notices the hand Junho has placed in front of his face, how his slender fingers twitch a little, and the awake male wants to know what Junho‘s dreaming about. But Wooyoung doesn‘t pry into his brain. It‘d be unfair, because it‘s easy to scan the most vivid images when someone‘s asleep. He couldn‘t do that if Junho was awake and Wooyoung feels his companion would be proud of him if he ignored this temptation, so he chooses staring.

Wooyoung thinks a lot, he has time. He remembers what happened yesterday and his expression becomes cloudy. He has never attacked Minjun before, only during training and yet, he lost control, disappointing not only himself, but Junho as well. Minjun’s little test proved there was still a long way to go and Junho took all the responsibility. Wooyoung’s not used to this. No one has ever been responsible for his actions before and now he has to depend on Junho. Someone who can make him serene just with a little touch.

He concealed something from Minjun, Wooyoung’s not sure why, but for some reason he felt like he had to do it. He’s afraid of something he’s not sure of what, exactly. Perhaps this fear was born out of ignorance because everything that’s happening to him now is a whole new experience. Junho’s energy flows through him freely and yet, Minjun’s energy is blocked.

Wooyoung understand he’s vulnerable now. Minjun knows that too. This has to be changed. Wooyoung wants to reach the star gate while being fully responsible for his own actions, because if he doesn't... He gazes at Junho’s lips and sighs. That thing he told Wooyoung during their first hours together... Wooyoung can relate to it now. He couldn’t even imagine it’d be possible, but with things as they are now, it is reality.

_You don't know what real life is. You’re just an empty canvas._

Junho’s vivid, so vivid he’s able to paint Wooyoung’s canvas. Every minute spent with him makes Wooyoung understand everything better, it makes him more colourful. Even though his colours might be splashing over the edges, the canvas is not complete yet, but it’s improving. Practice makes perfect.

Junho’s eyes flutter open and Wooyoung doesn’t want to be empty anymore.

They walk over to Wooyoung’s airbike and it takes just a few seconds to make it appear. Wooyoung checks his map and they notice an abandoned zoo roughly 300 kilometres away. They decide it must be their next stop. That place should be good enough for training, and they’ll finally leave this desert that has been Junho’s home for a few years now. Junho’s pretty excited, as he hasn’t seen any nice greenery in a very long time. He’s not sure if it’s safe enough to try their luck, but their choices aren’t vast. There's also a small town not too far away, so they might as well check it for some supplies.

The airbike moves with the pair on top of it and Junho clings on Wooyoung’s waist tighter. His body feels warmer and Junho assumes Wooyoung’s energy flow is better. Their trip is less erratic than yesterday and Junho tells that to Wooyoung, his purpose to boost up the super human’s confidence. It works and the rest of their trip is smooth.

The closer they get, the more Junho relishes in what he sees. There’s no orange sand and pebbles, the scenery is getting more colourful with every kilometre, and Junho becomes very sensitive. He wants to touch every flower and tree, maybe climb a few. He can swear even the smell is different. It has more moisture and the heat isn’t that suffocating for the first time in months. Junho got so used to living in constant heat during the day and constant cold during the night that he forgot how it feels like to live outside the desert. This warmth is different, but much better. And at that instant Junho realises – he’s not one of the sand people anymore.

Junho brushes off the remaining dust once they end the trip for the day and look at the entrance. “You know, I’ve been thinking.” Wooyoung looks at him curiously. “What we really need to work on is your concentration. If you can master that, there will be no problems controlling your emotions.”

Wooyoung arches his eyebrows and puckers lips in approval. “That sounds like a very good idea.”

“You just need... Something...” Junho’s eyes wander everywhere as his brain is working on full power. “I guess I could make you a bow. Using it requires good concentration and it might help you.”

“A bow?” Junho nods and Wooyoung grins. “No need to make one.” Junho raises his eyebrow as if saying _‘Oh, is that so?'_ and watches Wooyoung, waiting for an answer.

Wooyoung presses a finger on his forearm armour and a little hologram appears, surprising Junho because since the beginning, he has thought it was just a simple piece of a very smooth iron. His gaze becomes more intense as Wooyoung swipes through the air and Junho realises it’s a list of weapons Wooyoung’s going through. Junho’s jaw drops a hundred feet down when Wooyoung chooses a bow and it materializes in his hand.

“What is this sorcery?!” Junho feels like he’s a peasant in the Middle Ages as he has never witnessed such technology before and immediately touches the magic bow in Wooyoung’s hand, making sure it’s the real thing. Wooyoung just chuckles at his astonished companion. “How did this bow come out of your armour?”

“I materialised it.” Wooyoung shrugs with a smug expression on his face, allowing Junho to take the bow into his hands. “This is not simple armour, as you can see. It’s actually a materialisation tool. We mask it as a simple piece of armour so enemies wouldn’t think too much of it. Moreover, it’s very comfortable to keep it like this.”

“No wonder you never carry any bags. So, you can keep everything you want in there?” Junho gives the bow back and remembers Minjun had the same forearm armour and that only confirms his guess.

“Well, not everything. Only the most basic items that are easy to materialise. Usually we store weapons in them. It depends on our mission, mostly. Because we can make our airbikes invisible, we keep most of our things inside them. Forearm armours – repository kits, or repkits as we call it, are useful when we are on a stealthy mission like this one. I cannot carry a huge backpack like you do, think about its safety, and fight at the same time.”

“That makes sense. Sweet.” Junho nods a few times in agreement. “What about the arrows?”

“They materialise when I stretch the string.”

“Amazing.” Junho stares at it in awe. “Let me guess, it also works only when you use your energy? Just like your airbike?”

“Yeah. If you tried to steal my repkit, it wouldn’t work for you.”

“Well damn, there goes my plan to rob you and run away again...” Junho fakes his disappointment, making Wooyoung laugh. “Anyway, we should check out this zoo. Doesn’t look like anyone’s been there in ages.” Junho scrutinizes the broken entrance and the grassy road leading deep down into the abandoned place.

“Okay.” Wooyoung makes his airbike invisible and carries a bow in his hand, scratching his other forearm while walking beside Junho.

“Did you get an infection or something? Gross.” Junho glances at Wooyoung’s arm.

“No. Our immune system is flawless, so we don’t get any infections.”

“One more reason to hate you super humans. I can die from a freaking bacteria and you’ll just watch me while I suffer. Nice.” Junho rolls his eyes, not really directing his hate towards Wooyoung.

“I’ll heal you.” Wooyoung sticks his tongue out mockingly and Junho drops the subject.

After a few minutes, it becomes clear this zoo looks more like a forest and the only proof this place was touched by a human hand is iron cage bars. Junho notices all gates are open. Someone must’ve freed all the animals before things turned for the worst. He sees a few birds, lizards, nothing unusual. Wooyoung stops him when he notices a signboard leading to the administration building, and they turn that way.

They pass a few derelict ponds, some bigger enclosures, and on the next turn, the pair finally sees a neglected yellow building. When they get closer, Junho stops his companion and points at the slightly open door. There might be someone hiding inside.

Wooyoung quickly uses his repkit and switches from bow to dagger. The building isn’t that big, only a few office rooms and a few bedrooms for employees to sleep in. Junho assumes someone left the door open because they were in a hurry, as it seems like the place was left in the middle of the day. Dirty cups and papers scattered on the tables, opened windows and wind whistling through the door gaps, and a couple more things to make the abandoned place look creepy.

“If I knew this place existed, I’d have spent my days here. It doesn’t even look like water-carriers were here,” Junho says when they enter a single bedroom. “Wow, there’s shower here. Awesome.” He touches the dusty tiles.

“Do you want to stay here for a few days?” Wooyoung gets his attention back.

“I don’t know. Shouldn’t we reach star gate quickly?”

“There’s no deadline for it. But the sooner the better.” Wooyoung shrugs.

“Well...” Junho looks outside the window at the thick tree branches. “We could stay here for two days, maybe... Also, there’s this town not too far away. Maybe we should check it out?” Junho sounds hesitant and Wooyoung catches onto it.

“Why? It’s dangerous, isn’t it? I have plenty of foodbars for us.” Junho stares at Wooyoung in silence for a bit and sighs.

“No, you don’t. We’re running out, actually. Are you scared?” Junho leans on the wall as Wooyoung stands in the doorway. The look he gets from Wooyoung is odd. Junho cannot pinpoint what it is exactly, but he sees Wooyoung’s lip twitch slightly.

“I’m not scared. I’m afraid something might happen to you and I cannot let that happen. There’s still a long way to go. We might meet more obstacles.”

Junho’s unable to say anything back to that. He just looks away and thinks Wooyoung’s very protective of him. If Junho were in his shoes... Would he be like that too? Wooyoung came here to accomplish his mission, after all, but something tells Junho it’s not all about the mission anymore. Nevertheless, he has one huge responsibility, and it’s staring at him now. “You should work on your concentration outside.” Junho cuts off the tension. “In the meantime, I’ll look around a bit. We still have a few hours left till sunset.”

“Are you sure you don’t need my help?” Wooyoung gazes expectantly, but to his dismay, Junho shakes head. “Fine, I’ll be outside.”

Junho exhales when Wooyoung leaves. It’s weird, because having Wooyoung around feels like a very natural thing. And now that Junho’s all alone in this room, he’s aware of the lack of the super human’s presence. It’s like a piece of puzzle went missing. Junho shakes off that feeling and decides to look around more thoroughly.

All snacks are out of date and it doesn’t surprise Junho. Even that crummy unhealthy food with a billion kinds of preservatives cannot win against time. Junho isn’t very tempted to experience food poisoning, so he leaves the expired food be and walks through a dark corridor when he notices the back door. He moves at a normal pace, but doesn’t let his guard down. Junho opens the door easily and finds a huge garden before his eyes. There’s a carriage not too far away, swings for children, and a few more attractions that belong in a regular playground.

It’s astonishing. This eerie garden, which hasn’t seen a hand of a gardener for a very long time, looks so beautiful it takes a few moments for Junho to comprehend this is really not a desert anymore. He savours the moment and closes his eyes, breathing in fresh air rich with the scent of wild flowers. Junho makes his way forward and feels the tall grass caressing his bare calves.

Something cracks not too far away, but Junho doesn’t spare a glance. He touches an ancient-looking wooden stick, decorated with neat carvings. There’s a climber flower stuck to it and Junho takes a closer look when he hears another cracking. This time it feels closer. “Wooyoung?” He straightens his back, but he can’t see Wooyoung anywhere.

Junho’s senses are strong. He directs all his attention to the sounds and it feels like he’s not alone here. Junho gulps and clings onto the stick, pulling it out of the soil slowly. _Come on_ , he thinks and his eyes scan the surroundings, trying to locate the unknown entity.

It takes a split second for Junho to react as the thing is jumping at him. Junho falls down and he rolls quickly with the wooden stick in his hands. Adrenaline rushes through his veins and Junho jumps onto his feet to see a huge tiger roaring at him. “Oh, shit.” The animal doesn’t look very healthy. It’s thin-- probably hasn’t fed much in days-- and Junho seems like a good catch. No matter how thin the tiger might be, it’s still one of the most dangerous wild animals, and Junho’s not planning to be on its menu today.

The animal doesn’t waste much time and attacks Junho head-on, leaping in the air swiftly. In the corner of his eye, Junho notices Wooyoung running towards him, but he’s too far away. Junho thrusts his stick forward with everything he has in him and hopes it will be enough.

“Junho!” Wooyoung screams, terrified as Junho’s body disappears beneath the tiger’s. “Junho!” Wooyoung’s close enough now to see neither of them is moving. He can only see Junho’s legs as he’s buried below the animal, as well as a piece of wood sticking out of its back.

Wooyoung uses all his muscle power to push the tiger’s physique off and he succeeds soon enough. “Junho!” He screams again as he sees Junho’s all drenched in blood. Wooyoung’s startled when the human coughs fervently, and is about to touch him when Junho shakes his head.

“Don’t touch me, you’ll get dirty.” He says calmly.

“Are you injured?!” Wooyoung’s voice is high and full of horror.

“I could clench that tiger with my butt and kill it in seconds. Of course I’m okay. What’s the fuss about?” He tosses the bloody shirt away.

“What do you mean, what’s the fuss about?! Appreciate your life more!” Wooyoung tightens his fists, agitated. If Junho hadn't had a stick in his hands, it would be Junho's blood and not the tiger's soaking into his clothes.

“Wooyoung, just go away.” Junho cannot explain this increasing annoyance. He’s being reprimanded and he’s not going to take that. Junho has survived for so long, he doesn’t need a lecture. Especially when everything ended well.

“Are you joking? How can you take things like that so lightly?”

“Now you’re just being over-dramatic. Get a grip.” Junho stands up slowly and doesn’t look at fuming Wooyoung.

“It is not I who’s being over-dramatic, it is you who cannot accept me telling the truth! How can you think so little of your life?!”

Junho turns quickly to him and pierces Wooyoung with a cold glare. “Take your fucking bow and work on your concentration. I’m going to shower.” He glares at Wooyoung until the latter stomps away gritting his teeth, picking at Junho’s conscience wordlessly.

This isn’t right.

The water’s cold and Junho doesn’t take long in the shower. He watches the last red stream of water run into the drain and dries his skin quickly, as he’s feeling chilly after showering. Junho finds a black, baggy jumpsuit and puts it on, as it’s his only choice of clothing. During this trip, he ruined all of his shirts and pants. He sits on the bed and stares outside the window.

Perhaps he was too harsh. Wooyoung was worried, it’s a natural reaction and honestly, Junho was the one at fault. Wooyoung cares about him. Junho would be worried too. He exhales soundly and leaves the building to find Wooyoung.

Junho sees him with a bow in his hands, concentrated on a target: a small can of peas. Wooyoung releases the arrow and it shoots rapidly, hitting the can off the fence. Junho comes up behind him, but Wooyoung doesn’t bother looking at him or talking. He stretches the string and a new arrow appears. “Wooyoung,” Junho speaks up, but the latter doesn’t reply. He concentrates on the next target, which happens to be a can of ham this time. It falls down in seconds and another arrow appears in Wooyoung’s hands. “Wooyoung-ah. I’m sorry.” The super human halts his actions and taps on his repkit. The bow disappears, but Junho’s still facing his back. “I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that. I’m sorry.”

Junho stares at his back expectantly and there’s something tickling below his ribcage as Wooyoung keeps his mouth shut. “You know, I’m trying really hard,” he begins quietly. “I’m learning. I think I can understand many things now, but you always show me something I have to think deeply about. I was thinking that perhaps I really shouldn’t have showed I was scared for your life. But while you were showering, I was standing here and working on my concentration... I thought that maybe, just maybe, something we have between us is making us act ridiculous sometimes. It’s mutual, obviously. Even if you get angry at me, I’ll always put your safety first. It doesn't have anything to do with my mission anymore. It doesn’t even matter that you’re a very strong man who has survived for 10 years in this hopeless place.” Wooyoung turns around and Junho’s taken aback by the sincerity in his eyes. Junho digs deeper into his pockets and tries to think straight. _This is not right_ , he thinks again, but doesn’t stop looking at the person before him. “What matters to me is to have you beside me, alive and breathing. That is my priority.” Wooyoung steps closer and does nothing except analyse Junho’s dreamy face.

“Wooyoung-ah...” Junho’s searching for words, but it’s like there’s a plug stuck in his throat that’s trying to contain all those dumb fireworks somewhere in his stomach. “Wooyoung-ah...” He repeats again like a parrot, but then Wooyoung’s hand slips into Junho's pocket and the massive plug pops into another universe. Junho lunges forward to kiss that person grasping his fingers.

Their kiss is fervent, passion drawing them closer, and Junho cups Wooyoung's face, guiding him the right way, as he’s still a newbie in physical relationship department. Wooyoung hugs his waist, his actions becoming more natural with each kiss and he loses himself in the pleasure that is Junho's luscious lips. Junho nibbles on the taller male's lip and pulls back slightly. "Open your mouth," he whispers and Wooyoung parts his lips, Junho slipping his tongue in immediately. Wooyoung moans as Junho's tongue massages his, the warmth from Junho's mouth entering his. Wooyoung feels Junho's energy flowing through him and Junho experiences the same, sensing that familiar tingling sensation throughout his body. "Inside... Let's go inside..." Junho says between sloppy kisses and they both find it hard to detach their limbs from each other.

They run into the building and Junho notices the orange sky before closing the front door for the night. His mind is hazy as Wooyoung drags him to the bedroom and gives a stealthy peck on his cheek. Junho laughs and gives him a rough push, trying to close the bedroom door in peace, but Wooyoung's hands keep groping him from behind and Junho's more than happy to finally be done with the lock. Junho turns around and his face is decorated by a mischievous grin, which Wooyoung cannot figure out. Soon he does, because Junho's hand slips into Wooyoung's pants and he feels something he has never been aware of before. It's as if all his blood and thoughts are directed into his groin. Wooyoung finds it hard to stand straight as he holds onto Junho's shoulders, releasing his moan into the nape of Junho's neck.

Wooyoung now understands why people from reproductive department never switch to any other department. He also realises they're missing so much, because they cannot feel anything real, as they're drugged to make themselves more useful. Junho's attentive and patient with him, so Wooyoung adjusts soon. They are both sweaty, hungry to explore each other's body, and it doesn't take long before Junho enters him and Wooyoung's birthmark reacts to this new sensation.

At first, there’s not much to enjoy except Junho’s lips, but gradually something changes and Wooyoung’s relaxing. Junho makes sure to take good care for both of them, shifting slightly and hitting that bundle of nerves that makes Wooyoung scratch the human’s back.

Behind that mist of pleasure, Wooyoung manages to comprehend that theory will never be equal to practice, and all his studies about human sexual intercourse will never teach the most important thing – feelings. He embraces that knowledge and let’s go of his rationality completely as he thinks he has just unlocked all the secrets of the universe, the warm liquid dripping down on his chest and inside his lower half.

Junho rolls down beside him, the pair staring at the yellow ceiling and breathing deeply. There’s something odd about Wooyoung’s general condition. He has never felt so drained before and when he looks at Junho, he’s almost glowing. He’s emitting something, and it’s weird because Wooyoung has never seen a human’s aura surrounding its body.

Wooyoung scratches his forearm and Junho looks at him. “Why does it feel like I got energised so much? Is it common if a regular human and super human have sex?” Junho asks and shifts onto his side.

“You‘re asking the wrong person. You just took my virginity.” Wooyoung mocks him, because even if he’s a super human, he doesn’t have all the answers. There also hasn’t been much interaction between the two species. At least not directly. Especially like this. Wooyoung purses his lips and Junho punches his shoulder.

“It’s like... This might sound stupid...” Junho looks at the sheets for a moment and his eyes go back to Wooyoung’s. “It’s like I can feel you... Your emotions.”

“Really? That’s weird, maybe-” He’s cut off when Junho catches his arm and stares at it. Wooyoung has no other option but to have a look at it as well. When he sees it, their eyes meet.

“How the hell did that scorpion mark got onto your forearm?” Junho asks and touches it, rubbing the super human’s skin gently.

But Wooyoung pulls away from Junho and sits up, staring at the fresh mark. He hasn’t heard of anything like that before. There was simply no information on this topic, as there were no records of sexual relationships with earthlings. For all he knows, Wooyoung might be the first one. Another question that pokes at his brain is what is he going to do about that? This mark is clearly related to Junho and whatever power his energy has over Wooyoung. He lets Junho’s energy flow through him and maybe this mark allows Junho to accept Wooyoung’s energy without any resistance. Perhaps that is why Junho feels so energised? And Wooyoung... He actually feels drained. Wooyoung’s head shoots up fast.

They’re not only sharing, but consuming each other’s energy as well. Which means...

Junho can use Wooyoung’s personal tools too. His airbike and repkit.

“Junho, I think both of us have a lot of things to learn.”

Wooyoung looks at Junho’s confused face and the only conclusion he can make is a very simple one: this scorpion mark holds a link between them. It wouldn’t be possible if Wooyoung didn’t have feelings for Junho, and vice versa. They’re tied together now.

[ ](http://s66.photobucket.com/user/ielektrinta/media/2345_900.jpg.html)


	8. Chapter 8

The night is windy, Junho can't rest properly compared to Wooyoung, who‘s sleeping like a log. Junho sighs seeing the sky getting brighter, and that means they've survived one more night in this water-carrier infested world. As much as Junho would like to stay longer in this place that could be easily titled Paradise (after having lived for so long in a desert, every other place would seem like a paradise), he knows it's impossible. Many of his kind died just because they stayed in one place for more than a few days. It's only Junho's theory, but perhaps water-carriers can find them so quickly because water composes 70% of human body.

Junho turns his head to Wooyoung and stares without blinking. They need to reach stargates as soon as possible; they cannot put it off any longer, because it's not safe. Especially when you enter territories, ravaged by enemies. Junho remembers the very first reports about aliens and how the government was going to do everything to stop those things, but the problem was – aliens didn't want any negotiations. It was pure destruction. Humans gave them too much time and water-carriers used it well. Hoards of their offspring were born in a few months and it didn't stop. Even rivalling nations joined forces to fight water-carriers, but to no avail as they killed many humans in the process. Chemical weapons used against the aliens did more damage to the earthlings than the enemy.

Junho was just a 16-year-old kid, doing his school work like a diligent student and training martial arts with his father during his free time. Like many others, he was naive in thinking this would end soon. It did, but not in the way anyone expected it to. The next thing he knew, Junho was travelling with what was left of his family to a desert. His 17th birthday was marked by the loss of it. While his parents were killed protecting the children, the next morning Junho’s sister chose suicide. She chose it over pain and constant running, excluding Junho from it. Now that Junho thinks about it, she probably thought Junho was the strongest one. It was cruel to leave him out like this, but the day before Junho said he'd never give up no matter what. He chose to be responsible for his own destiny.

Because of that, he's looking at Wooyoung now. There is hope.

Junho closes his eyes and drifts off, his cloudy mind welcoming a childhood dream.

 

They decide to stay for a few more hours. They find three cups, fill them with water and as Wooyoung stands still Junho puts each cup on his shoulders and head. He walks like this for some time, working on his concentration and later on he goes back to shooting arrows. Junho's not very keen on trying to make Wooyoung's repkit work and just tells him to wear it without worrying about Junho. Besides, probably all the energy he got from Wooyoung was wasted already and this training wouldn't be very useful. Wooyoung tries to talk the human into trying it again, but Junho's not showing any enthusiasm. Junho's a bit old-fashioned and he makes Wooyoung go back to his own training by saying "I know martial arts more than necessary and that is enough for me. I don't want to learn something I might not be able to use at all; it'd be a waste of time. I'll just focus on my awesome regular human body and ancient fighting techniques." And he goes back to doing push-ups and the rest of his body strengthening routine.

Eventually they begin fighting each other, trying to see who's got better moves. Junho's winning this one, smirking at Wooyoung because even though Wooyoung might be stronger – Junho's technique is sharper. Also, Wooyoung can't really attack him using full power as he has no wish to break Junho's ribs (if he got a chance to actually get close to them). This counts as training for the super human as well as he has to keep his emotions in check and maintain the same level of strength. In the end, it's a tie.

Tired, they flop down on the grass. "I've never asked you," Junho begins. "But how old are you? Super humans probably live longer than we do, right?"

"You're right." Wooyoung rubs his forehead with the back of his hand and gazes at the cloudy sky. "This body, as we like to refer to it – a vessel – it usually takes around 900 years to wear off completely. This is actually a rather interesting topic, because when we _die_ ," Wooyoung makes quotation-marks stressing the last word, "The core of our energy, or soul, as you'd call it, leaves this vessel and if it's caught on time we can transfer it into an empty vessel of a super human foetus." Wooyoung looks at Junho's blank face as the human tries to comprehend everything and smiles. "Reincarnation of some sort."

"Elaborate." Junho blurts out and leans in with curious eyes.

"Foetus does not have energy, or soul in other words, until the last month before birth. I'll just say soul, so it'd be easier to understand, fine?" Junho nods frantically. "If no one wants to use that vessel – the baby gets a pure new soul, which starts developing during the last few weeks before birth. However, if there's a super human, whose old vessel isn't suitable for him or her anymore, they can choose a pregnant woman from a reproduction department and their soul will be planted into her foetus. Most of your character traits and experiences will be locked within your soul, so you might remember some things from your past life as you grow up. Not everything, but the most important things. As for me, I'm just 118 years old. I was born with a pure new soul."

"118 years old? You old geezer." Junho wheezes. "How about Minjun?"

"I'm just a baby compared to him. He has had 3 vessels already, he's in the 4th now, and currently he's a bit over 500 years old."

"Man, that's like... You're immortal." Junho stares at Wooyoung with his mouth wide open. "And he looks pretty good for a 500-year-old dude."

Wooyoung gives him a glare. "Pretty good? So, I'm not good enough or what?"

"Calm down," Junho rubs Wooyoung's arm and the new mark flashes slightly. "I'm just saying, for a person of that age, I expected him to have wrinkly skin at least. You're hot as hell, Wooyoung. I don't need to tell you this, because that mark wouldn't be here if I thought otherwise, would it?"

Wooyoung purses his lips and looks away. "I guess so." He takes a few moments and everything's back to normal. "We do not age in that sense. Yes, we might get a few wrinkles as we get closer to 900, some grey hair as well. However, it's our internal organs that make us get another vessel. Carrying that much energy takes its toll on us."

"So, can you really die?"

"Yes, if we do not want our soul to be caught and stored safely. It just flies away, a small orb of light."

"What about us, humans? I mean, there were rather many cases of people talking about reincarnation, their past lives and such. I'm pretty sure no one catches their soul after they die."

Wooyoung smiles faintly. "It's a pure accident. That might happen in a hospital, where pregnant women come and someone dies – their soul might accidentally collide with the foetus. Souls are invisible to simple human eye; many of them wander around for years until it dissolves completely. But it's a very rare occurrence. Catching a soul for us is also a difficult task, that's why we have to prepare for it and usually 3 people attend the soul catching ceremony. There's a special container for it."

Junho turns away from Wooyoung and starts picking at the grass, staring at the greenery around his hands. "So... There might be a chance I could get that ceremony done for me as well?"

The weight of this question gets Wooyoung. He notices the depth of it as Junho's voice sounds normal, but his tone is not that certain. Wooyoung takes Junho's hand and squeezes it, sending pleasant sensations through his body. Junho lifts his eyes and gives a pensive look. "It should be possible."

Junho nods and his face brightens up slightly. "Thanks."

Wooyoung leans closer and is about to kiss his partner, when a drop of rain splashes on his cheek. Junho pulls back immediately and jumps on his feet. "We need to leave this place. Quickly." Wooyoung agrees, because at this point staying here any longer is dangerous and the super human knows – when there's rain, there must be water-carriers somewhere nearby. "I'll go and grab my bag from inside, wait here." Junho says and runs towards the building.

He curses, because he should've thought this through better. Junho didn't pay much attention to the sky and clouds as he was too immersed in their training and now they have to hurry without looking back. Junho reaches the bedroom and throws another black jumpsuit in his bag (chances are he's going to ruin the one he's wearing if things get worse, because that's how it's been recently), zips it up and is about to turn on his heel, when someone grabs him from behind, covers his mouth, holds onto his waist, and presses their bodies against the wall. Junho notices the repkit and nods. Wooyoung removes his palm from the human's lips and whispers into his ear, "They're here. Six of them."

"We can escape through that window," Junho whispers back. "It's raining we might cover our tracks successfully. And we have to go to that nearby city. We have no choice." They're out of time and it is more than obvious the only place they can hide in is the deserted city. Wooyoung releases Junho and the latter opens the window silently. He looks back at Wooyoung, nods, and jumps outside effortlessly.

Junho squats immediately and as Wooyoung lands beside him there's a sound of someone walking in the building. Wooyoung points his fingers towards the thick bushes on their left and Junho's eager to move, but the super human holds onto his arm, indicating they should wait. Junho looks at him with his eyebrows raised and Wooyoung taps on the repkit, going through the list quickly. Seconds later, a small silver gun appears in Wooyoung's hand and he gives it to Junho, mouthing _laser_.

They move slowly at first, trying to be as quiet as possible and with the sound of heavy rain it becomes an easy task. Once they get a bit further from the building, the pair runs fast, with their sole purpose to reach the invisible airbike. Junho slows down before the turn and it appears to be a very wise decision, because there's one water-carrier securing the entrance to the zoo. Junho glances at Wooyoung and smirks, pointing the super human's gun at the unsuspecting alien.

He's astonished at the functionality of the advanced gadget as its noise level is extremely low and the dead alien with its brain fried falls down immediately. They run past him and notice their vehicle, another brilliant idea popping in Junho‘s mind. "This should hold them back." Junho fries the engine using the laser and Wooyoung drags him, only wishing to get away without any injuries.

This time they succeed.

 

"Apocalypse at its greatest," Junho murmurs as the airbike flies into the empty city. Tall buildings look like frozen ghosts, bottles and papers scattered all over the streets, which are now decorated by grass – nature trying to break free through the cracked pavement. Abandoned cars, some of them burned down, broken windows and personal belongings being carried by the wind and stuck somewhere – it makes Junho shudder. People in despair didn't know what to do to survive. Once there was life. Now all of it is gone. A godforsaken place.

There's a stray cat, staring at them expectantly and Junho wonders how it has survived till now. It probably wouldn't budge to devour Junho if he fell dead here. He looks away and there's tears burning the corners of his eyes. How much he'd give to change everything that is impossible to change.

Wooyoung turns his airbike into a secluded alley and stops. "Looks like an office building, 15 floors." He says as they jump on the ground.

"Good choice. Hotel would be a dangerous place to stay at." He smiles and Wooyoung's satisfied. "Also, we can see most of the city if we go to the top."

"Let's go then."

Junho opens the back exit door after breaking the lock and they move up the stairs. The entrance to the top floor isn't locked and that saves Junho from breaking another lock. The sunset greets them through wide windows and they stop for a bit, taking in the view. The hall is huge, full of tables as it's a usual thing for every regular office. Everything's tidy though (except for a thick layer of dust) and Junho decides the head of this office was smart enough to let people leave before the hell broke loose. Then, he sees a separate room and as they get closer to it, they can read a signboard on the door – _‘Director'_.

Junho has to break the lock to get them inside and it's harder this time, because this room belonged to a director and it had to be protected well. Then he stops fiddling with the lock, takes out the laser gun and melts the lock effortlessly. "Very useful thing, you should've showed it to me earlier." He blows the invisible smoke and hands the gun back to the owner. "After you, sir."

"Why, thank you." Wooyoung chuckles and opens the door, entering the room first. There's a huge wooden desk, a wall decorated with family pictures, a few shelves with books and a leather sofa. They make their way to the window and watch over the city, coloured in orange sun rays.

"On normal circumstances I'd say it's beautiful, but how dead scenery can be beautiful. It's dreadful. So empty." Junho turns around and goes to the sofa to sit down.

"Not anymore." Wooyoung offers him a playful smile and as he walks away from the window, his expression changes to a serious one. "We cannot allow ourselves to put this off anymore. We must reach the stargates soon. If I were to ride my airbike in full power, we could reach it in two days." Wooyoung flops down beside Junho.

"So fast..." Junho moves around and cradles his head into Wooyoung's lap, looking towards the window. "It's surreal."

"It's going to be even more dangerous as it's located near the ocean. We won't have the luxury to make mistakes."

"It's always been like that for me." Junho looks back at Wooyoung, his smile containing hidden sadness and something clutches at Wooyoung's chest. He wants to comfort Junho and remembers the first time he tried to do so without any real emotions. A feeling of guilt tugs at him as he stares down at Junho.

Wooyoung leans in and kisses Junho as the latter shifts to make it not so awkward, positioning himself better in the super human’s embrace. Their kiss is slow, they have nowhere to hurry and Wooyoung pulls away, asking Junho to move forward. Wooyoung spoons Junho on the leather sofa, his arm hanging over the human’s waist, nuzzling his nose against the soft hair like a cat. “Idiot.” Junho says, his voice more cheerful than before enjoying the heat surrounding him from behind.

“Says who?” Wooyoung mocks him and rests his head on his arm.

“Shut up, I want to sleep.”

“Oh, interesting~” Wooyoung’s voice too suggestive for Junho to ignore it.

“And what do you mean by that?” Junho shifts his body to face the super human.

“Nothing.” He averts his eyes grinning.

“That’s definitely not nothing. Yah.” Junho slaps Wooyoung’s shoulder.

“I haven’t used that on you. Yet.”

“Used what?”

“I can scan your most vivid dreams.” Wooyoung’s grin gets wider and quite scary.

“Yah, you know that’s invading my privacy. You’re such a creep, Wooyoung-ah. Why did I have to get involved with the creepy one?” Junho exhales, shifting on his back and staring at the ceiling.

“I guess creeps attract the bitchy ones.”

“Now you’re asking for it...” Junho attempts to pinch him, but Wooyoung grabs his wrists and straddles him. “Yah...”

“Junho.” Wooyoung tilts his head. “Shut up.” Wooyoung plants his lips on Junho’s and this time their lips are not moving slowly. Their hunger for each other awakens, hands groping everywhere and the room’s filled with kissing sounds. Wooyoung’s about to unzip Junho’s jumpsuit when his upper body shoots up instantly and he freezes staring at the wall, scaring the living soul out of Junho.

“What the fuck.” Junho manages to blurt out as Wooyoung’s in some sort of a trance, still straddling his hips. “Totally ruined the mood. Wooyoung?” Junho waves his hand in front of Wooyoung’s face. It takes a few moments and the super human is back to this world. “What the hell was that creepy shit you just pulled on me? Like a demon possessed you or something.”

“Sorry,” Wooyoung actually looks apologetic and destroys any plans of mockery Junho’s had in his mind. “My telepathy’s working again. Minjun contacted me. He’s coming here.”

“At least I didn’t get a raging erection...” Junho mutters as he pushes Wooyoung off his body and stands up. “Does it always look like you’re possessed when you use telepathy?” He sits on the table.

Wooyoung pulls one leg close to his chest, places his hands on his knee and rests his head on top of it, barely seeing Junho’s face as the night completely consumes the sky. Only the moonlight enlightens the room. “No, it’s probably because it was so sudden after blocking him unintentionally. Usually I can react to things happening around me. I guess my brain restarted or something.”

“Still, that’s weird he’s coming here. Did he tell you anything else?”

“No, he was in a hurry. But my repkit has a tracking bug, so he knows my exact location. He should be here soon, don’t panic if you hear anything weird.”

“Pft, like I would...” Junho snorts and decides to look over the abandoned city for the time being. Total darkness makes Junho think how scary it would be to stroll around the hostile streets. They cannot use any artificial light as this is not a cave, which could conceal everything. Moonlight is all they can rely on.

He sees a bat flying swiftly and wonders how great it’d be to have its senses. They can locate the surroundings so easily in the dark. Junho’s fists dig deeper into his pockets when Wooyoung hugs his waist from behind. “You think too much.”

“Cannot get rid of that habit.” Junho reacts to a small noise in the hallway and Wooyoung pulls away, both of them facing the door now.

They’re not scared though as they know who’s about to open it. Minjun enters the room catching his breath, but to Junho and Wooyoung’s surprise there’s another person following from behind. “Of course you had to choose the top floor. Quite a task to run up so high.”

Junho examines the person beside Minjun and he’s much thinner than the super human, especially his long legs. He cannot see every little detail, but Junho guesses this must be a fellow earthling as he’s all dressed up like a normal person should be – thick sweater and pants. Their eyes meet and Junho notices how big the guy’s eyes are. Junho thinks of his first puppy the parents bought him in the first grade.

“Oh, you found someone after all.” Wooyoung’s voice brings Junho out of his analysis process.

“This is Wooyoung and Junho. Meet Nichkhun.” Minjun introduces quickly. “Why don’t you sit down?” He glances at Junho and Nichkhun, pretty much leaving them without any other option. Both earthlings sit down on the sofa while the super humans take their respective seats in the chairs in front of them.

“Feels like a very late business meeting,” Junho notes.

“Very much so,” Minjun smiles at him and then glances at Wooyoung’s arm. “So, the new mark is there.”

Junho and Wooyoung exchange surprised looks. “Why does it sound like you knew this would happen?” Junho asks first.

“Because that’s what happened to us.” Nichkhun’s soft voice startles Junho a bit.

“Nichkhun...” Minjun stares at him.

“What? You were going to tell them anyway.” Nichkhun shrugs and now Wooyoung speaks up, his own impatience growing.

“Hold on. Explain everything, because we do not understand what you’re talking about.”

Minjun leans back and exhales heavily. “This is strictly between us until we reach the planet and talk to the Elder. This might shock you, but since we’re all in the same position, more or less, I’ve decided to tell you this.” Junho gulps nervously, all eyes on Minjun. “Before water-carriers invaded the Earth, I had a special mission here. There was a teenager, whose brain activity was so astonishing, he could actually use telepathy. I had to watch him and send my observations to our planet – Gaia.” He then looks at the earthling, sitting beside Junho. “It was Nichkhun.”


	9. Chapter 9

_Year 2053. May 2nd._

_Object: Nichkhun Buck Horvejkul.17 years old._

_Reason of Interest: Extraordinary brain activity._

_Mission: To observe the object._

_Warnings: Do not initiate direct contact._

Minjun swipes his finger through the repkit and the hologram table with the human’s personal data disappears. His observation object resides in Thailand, living under the same roof as the rest of his family. Minjun sits on top of another house and watches the huge house, waiting for the human to leave. It’s already been two weeks since Minjun’s mission began, but there hasn’t been any evident proof Nichkhun was really capable of something more than being a mere human. Though there were a couple of occasions when Minjun felt like the latter glanced straight at him out of the school window, that was not enough to prove his special abilities.

Minjun went through the records back in Gaia stating this human was special, and based on that, he was sent on a special mission. The more Minjun observed Nichkhun, the more he felt as though the guy was like a human magnet. He was never alone. Perhaps that was the main reason Minjun hasn’t seen any proof of Nichkhun’s special abilities yet.

The other issue was Minjun wasn’t allowed to initiate direct contact with the human. Of course, it would be easy to ask Nichkhun all the things he wanted, but the super human race avoided direct contact at any cost. Earthlings were mere test subjects for Gaians. Observing the genetically engineered test subjects was a way to improve upon them.

This day didn’t hold anything that eventful as well. Nichkhun surrounded by people at school, Nichkhun going to piano classes, Nichkhun cramming for his final exams in a library, Nichkhun coming back home and saying goodbyes to the rest of his family as they left for a long vacation without him. “I’ll join you after I’m done with my exams, okay?” Minjun hears him say outside, and the chattering family drives the car to the airport for their night fly to California.

The car’s out of Nichkhun’s sight, but he stays idle and looks around slowly as if looking for something. Minjun’s pretty sure he’s invisible in this darkness, sitting in someone’s balcony on the other side of the street, but somehow, Nichkhun’s short glance right through him makes Minjun wonder. Nevertheless, moments later, Nichkhun’s inside the house.

Minjun thinks it’s odd that Nichkhun decides to paint a wooden doll house for his little sister so late, but the super human keeps watching him. It’s when it seems like the paintbrush levitates in the air, Minjun decides he needs to move closer to get a better view. He jumps out of the balcony and moves quickly onto the top of the garage – the closest hiding place beside Nichkhun’s room. Minjun touches the tree growing between the garage and the main house, staring at Nichkhun and the levitating paintbrush.

This is not something a mere human being is capable of. There were no records about Nichkhun’s telekinesis and this is something intriguing. His brain activity might even be on the same level as super human’s, but Minjun has yet to confirm it for sure. Minjun is forced to snap out of his observation daze when Nichkhun grabs the paintbrush and puts it back into a pink paint can. Minjun flattens his body to the tree and calculates that darkness plus thick tree branches plus leaves equals great camouflage. He can see Nichkhun coming out into the balcony from the corner of his eye.

_Come out._

Minjun’s confused, because he’s pretty sure Nichkhun’s lips weren’t moving when he said that. Did he...? Did he just use telepathy to communicate? Nichkhun leans on the handrails and stares at the tree that is Minjun’s hideout.

_Come out. I know you’re here._

Again. Minjun has never felt so... He looks away and composes himself to be more rational. Also, he remembers a warning – do not initiate direct contact.

“Gaia. You’re from Gaia.” Nichkhun speaks out this time, and for the first time in his life, Minjun feels slightly lost. No, he cannot initiate direct contact even if Nichkhun knows something like the title of the planet Minjun came from. “You’ve been watching me for two weeks now.” Minjun’s fingers grasp at the rough bark. Impossible. It’s like Nichkhun’s reading a menu, spilling everything he sees in front of his eyes. “Minjun.” No. He cannot...

“What are you?” Nichkhun’s startled as Minjun appears beside him, stern look on the super human’s face.

“I’m Nichkhun.” He smiles and radiates something warm.

“Not that. I know your name. More importantly, you know my name.”

“Please, come inside.” Nichkhun motions with his hands towards the room, as if inviting an old friend over. Minjun doesn’t move and stares at the human suspiciously. “I promise I’m not going to call the police.” Nichkhun’s smile looks sincere as he tries to joke with Minjun.

Inside’s probably better, Minjun thinks. “Fine.” Nichkhun closes the balcony door as Minjun enters his room and draws the curtains to separate this private space from the outer world. Minjun stops beside the unfinished doll house and looks at Nichkhun, waiting for answers. “How do you know everything?”

“I just know.” His answer is simple, but not satisfying enough.

“You just know? That is not the type of answer I was expecting.”

Nichkhun comes closer to him and Minjun tilts his head, furrowing his eyebrows. “What did you expect? That I would answer all your questions? I know just little bits about you. I cannot explain why. I just do. I want to know something – my brain makes sure I get a hold of that knowledge. Not everything, though.” Nichkhun turns around and goes to the other side of the doll house, takes the same paintbrush, and begins painting the wood. “I feel you. It’s different from humans. The moment you came to observe me – I could feel it. You were radiating... Something... I don’t know. I’m no professor.” Nichkhun keeps on painting the house without looking at Minjun on the other side. “But you were observing from too far. I couldn’t contact you. I’m not that powerful, I suppose.” Nichkhun’s eyes light up as he looks at Minjun for a brief moment. “I had to make you come closer.” Nichkhun holds the paint can in his arms and places the paintbrush above it. It’s levitating again.

Minjun leans in and notices a very thin string of some sort coming from the can and realises the brush isn’t levitating at all – it’s stuck to the string and it makes it look as if it’s levitating in the air. Minjun glares at Nichkhun. “You tricked me.”

“I had to do something to make you come closer...” Nichkhun has a half-smile on his pure face. “I’m not a wizard.”

“You cannot use telekinesis.” Minjun states calmly, still blaming himself for being so naïve. He should’ve known better, especially after being warned. “Why did you want to see me?”

“Because I’ve never felt such presence before. I was curious.”

“All this trickery because you were curious?” Minjun snorts. “Creative.”

“Listen,” Nichkhun walks around the doll house with the paint can in his arms. “You cannot understand what it feels like to have this weird power within you and feel so out of place all the time. But ever since you came here, I felt as if a missing piece of puzzle was found and-” Nichkhun yelps when his feet steps onto something sharp and he falls forward, splashing all the paint over Minjun’s body as the latter catches him. They both freeze as the pink liquid drips off Minjun’s chest and pants, but they freeze not because of that. There’s a surge of energy flowing through Minjun’s skin, and he actually finds himself dazed. He can feel Nichkhun’s heartbeat just through this touch.

Minjun is the first one to retract his arms and he shakes his head, trying to compose himself once again. “I’m so sorry!” Nichkhun’s eyes are so round and Minjun doesn’t know what’s happening to him, but there’s one thing wrong for sure – he needs to wash himself and change the ruined pants. As if reading his mind, Nichkhun attempts to grab Minjun’s wrist, but the super human pulls away, making it clear he doesn’t want any skin-to-skin contact. There’s something so odd about Nichkhun that Minjun decides to stay away from him. “I’m sorry,” the human speaks up. “You can use my shower. That’s the only way I can repay you. Please, don’t think badly of me.” Nichkhun looks so apologetic, Minjun finds it hard to refuse him. It’s too late for that, in any case, as Minjun dared to initiate direct contact to begin with.

“Alright.”

Nichkhun smiles and takes Minjun to the shower. “I’ll bring you a towel.” He disappears and leaves Minjun alone. He throws the pants away and enters the shower stall, cleaning all that pink paint off quickly. The coloured water disappears into the drain as Minjun's almost done with the washing, and he thinks he really should've paid more attention to that warning. Is it just Nichkhun, or does every human being have such strong effect when there's touching involved? Maybe that's why that warning exists? It's like Minjun's inner world has experienced a small earthquake. His ears pick up the sound of feet shuffling behind him and Minjun turns his head. "I brought it," says Nichkhun, and Minjun glances at the towel in his hands.

"Thanks." He looks away to turn the tap off, but during that short second everything changes. There's a sharp pain on the right side of his butt and as Minjun turns around quickly, he sees a small knife in Nichkhun's hands. Then, it feels like his heart is about to explode and as he touches the wound. Minjun realises his birthmark was damaged. Minjun grabs Nichkhun by the collar of his shirt and smashes his body into the wet wall, grasping Nichkhun's wrist beside his head and squeezing it so hard the knife falls down. Nichkhun yelps in pain and looks so frightened, Minjun feels his body shivering. "What have you done?!" Minjun screams, feeling that he's losing self-control, anger consuming his mind. "Do you have any idea what you have done, you petty human being?!" He screams again, right into Nichkhun's terrified face.

"I'm sorry..." He mutters.

"Sorry? You are sorry?! My limiter is off now, how am I going to live like this?! You treacherous human being!"

"I had to do it! I'm sorry, but I had to do it!" Nichkhun yells too, desperate to make his point here. "I do not belong here! And to make you understand me and get something in return I had to injure your birthmark, because you need feelings to do that! I had to trick you, Minjun!” Nichkhun's panting as he's staring at Minjun's blank face expectantly, and Minjun realises Nichkhun’s not a regular kid. He’s holding so much information inside and whatever he knows – he uses it brilliantly. This soon-to-be 18 year-old kid has a hidden agenda that’s anything but childish.

"What?" Minjun blinks and releases his grip slightly. “What do you mean, you do not belong here?”

They both stare at each other as Minjun tries to contain his energy and Nichkhun licks his lips nervously. “I had enough visions to understand where my soul comes from and what needs to be done in certain cases.”

"That's...” Minjun exhales and releases Nichkhun as there’s too much information intruding his messed up mind and senses. The super human grabs the towel, wrapping it around his hips as the blood seeps through the white material. "You didn't have to do this to me, I barely can contain myself now," Minjun exhales heavily.

"I'll help you. I didn't make a deep cut on purpose. It should be easier to teach you self-control." Nichkhun walks from behind as Minjun's leaning on the wall with one hand, staring at the floor. "Let me treat your wound firstly." Minjun isn't able to say anything else as he just nods and lets Nichkhun to take care of the injury. He doesn’t have a choice either way, as he’s losing the last bits of his consciousness.

It's hard. Minjun fights all his emotions and if not for Nichkhun's help, he's sure he'd be a raging psycho by now. Minutes become hours, hours become days, days become weeks and Minjun’s in full control of his actions. He’s a bit freaked out when a new mark appears on his inner thigh, but Nichkhun’s touch just confirms his guess – they’re related on a mental level now too. Energy sharing is like the ultimate proof of trust and love, but they don’t talk about it simply because they feel it and no words have to be spoken in order to understand each other.

Nichkhun’s power also increases, but he rarely talks about his visions. During those few weeks, Minjun has learnt that Nichkhun’s soul previously belonged to a person from Gaia. However, his special abilities have nothing to do with that. It’s like that soul was destined to enter that extraordinary person. Even if Nichkhun tells Minjun that he’s the one who’s very special, Minjun knows it’s the other way around. Minjun swipes his finger through the repkit and sees the inevitable message ordering him to go back to Gaia to report his research.

“When are you leaving?” Nichkhun’s arms circle around the super human’s neck from behind as the latter sits in the corner of the bed.

“Did you have another vision?” Minjun smiles as he enjoys Nichkhun’s lips against his shoulders.

“Yes.” He pulls away. “I have a few things to ask.”

Minjun closes his eyes. He knew this day would come, sooner or later. And yet, he still hasn’t figured out what they should do about it. “Yes?” He turns around and looks at Nichkhun’s calm face, expecting for an answer that would satisfy both of them.

“Something’s going to happen very soon. Earth is going to be at war. But I want you to do something for me.” Minjun furrows his eyebrows. Is that why he’s being called back so soon? Usually it takes a few months to observe a person, it’s been only a few weeks. “Do not tell anyone about us. Wait till the last moment to prove your point.”

“My point?”

Nichkhun nods. “Even if it might take a few years – wait. Your Elder won’t do anything to save us, the result of your genetic engineering, unless it’s useful for your nation.” Minjun glances away, because he knows those words are the harsh truth. “Minjun,” Nichkhun touches his hands and the super human looks back at his extraordinary lover. “The only way to bring me and other people to Gaia is to create a special soldier unit where an Earthling and Gaian make a special bond. Like us. Just tell your Elder to imagine a unit which is capable of rational, but smart and effective actions that will help to save your nation from further alien attacks. He won’t be able to refuse you, because after so much waiting, your silent persistence to bring me to Gaia will be seen as the greatest self-control. I know you can do it now. Also, your new mark appeared in a very private place.” Nichkhun smiles as he glances at Minjun’s inner thigh.

Minjun’s eyes widen and he stares at nothing in particular, drawing that scenario inside his hectic mind. This plan is flawless. But... There’s is just one ‘but’... “What if you don’t...”

“...survive?” Nichkhun smiles again, that smile brushing all the worries away. “I will. I know I will. Just make sure to do your part right. Just wait. Wait till there are not many of us left. Only the strongest ones will survive, including me.” He kisses Minjun and it feels more like signing a treaty.

 

***

 

Junho stares at the carpet beneath his feet, digesting the story he has just heard. After a few moments, the conclusion drops like a heavy rock on his brain. If it weren’t for Nichkhun and Minjun, there would be no rescue team at all. There would be no Wooyoung, no new marks, no super humans looking for the strongest survivors – nothing. Super humans are here because Minjun has been waiting for the right moment and swayed the Elder's choice to his benefit. Nichkhun’s benefit. This special unit of Earthling and Gaian duos, capable of rational but smart decisions and tactics, was the answer to everything. “I don’t know what you are, Nichkhun, but you outsmarted all of us, even that old fart ruling Gaia. I think I know who’s going to be the next old fart ruling that planet.” Junho scratches his chin.

Nichkhun chuckles lightly. “Eye for an eye, right?”

“So, when I was injured...” Wooyoung begins, “You knew that I was going to be okay because of Junho and his help?”

“I wasn’t sure,” Minjun bites on his lip briefly. “My cut wasn’t deep. Compared to your injuries, mine wouldn’t even count as an injury. I was really worried if you two could pull it off. I tried to make you feel jealous to see how much Junho has control over you. It looked promising, so I left you be. This bond enables us to feel each other more. It wasn’t that tough to find Nichkhun, but I had to be careful and control my emotions to not act rushed. I’ve had enough of practice.” Minjun smirks, referring to the long wait. “Now I know that even with a serious injury like yours, we can achieve great results. You’re still learning, but it’ll only get better, as Junho’s a really strong partner.”

Junho purses his lips, not really used to being praised so much. “Well, I guess we should thank Nichkhun and his freaky brain.” Junho reaches his hand forward and touches the fellow human’s back, but then something in Nichkhun’s face changes and even if it’s rather dark, Junho thinks Nichkhun entered some kind of trance as his face turned to stone. “Hey, you okay?” Junho pulls his hand away, feeling quite weird.

Nichkhun blinks a few times and stares at Minjun briefly, then back at Junho. “I’m fine, just a little tired.” His smile seems reassuring.

“We will find us another room,” Minjun chimes in. “We must rest, because tomorrow’s going to be a very long- and most likely a dangerous- day.” He stands up and Nichkhun follows him, giving a quick glance to Junho. The latter can’t help but think Nichkhun’s rather perplexed after that short touch. Did he interfere with Nichkhun’s brainwaves or something? Junho decides not to dwell on this and just waves his hand as the duo leaves the room.

“I don’t think we’re going to be good friends.” Junho says behind the closed doors and Wooyoung just smiles, joining him on the sofa.

The pair finds another room on the same floor and break the lock easily, noticing they actually found a better one, as it looks like a leisure room. Minjun pushes one sofa to another and it looks like a pretty decent bed considering the rough times they’re living in, and Nichkhun lies down, waiting for his partner. “That vision you saw when Junho touched you...” Minjun lies on his side and looks at Nichkhun’s face illuminated by the moonlight, remembering the words the human told him using telepathy.

“You know how it works...” Nichkhun sighs and he sounds tired. “It’s impossible to change what I see. It will happen in one way or another.”

“Perhaps we should...” Minjun begins, but Nichkhun cuts him off, shaking his head.

“It’s for the best they don’t know about it.” Nichkhun sees doubt in Minjun’s eyes and smiles at him. “Trust me.”

“You know I do.” Nichkhun nods and closes his eyes, feeling Minjun’s lips upon his.

Just two days and they’ll reach the star gates. At least that’s what all of them are hoping for.


	10. Chapter 10

They meet in the hallway, first sunrays making Junho squint his eyes. That sofa wasn’t big enough for two grown men, but it’s better than sleeping in a spacious cave. Nichkhun stares at Junho, but it seems like he’s looking at nothing in particular. His mind must be very busy, Junho decides. Then, Nichkhun looks at Minjun and the latter nods slightly.

“We should all change into our jumpsuits,” when Junho looks at him with an invisible question-mark on his face, Minjun explains: “Gaia’s climate is a bit colder and we might not have the time to change later. Also... Khun thinks water-carriers might be aware of our birthmarks so we have to cover up our bodies to hide them.”

“Hmm, tricky...” Junho puckers his lips.

“Right?” Minjun smiles and uses his repkit quickly, extracting four black jumpsuits, decorated with iron spikes and plates.

“Wow, you really love everything that has spikes, don’t you?” Junho looks closely and inspects the details with his fingers. Soon he learns it’s pretty sharp, pulling back his finger quickly from sharp objects. “Protection during close combat, huh?”

“Yeah,” Wooyoung zips up his jumpsuit. “Just like our shoulder armours.”

“Hurry up; we don’t have much time to waste,” Junho glances at Minjun and Nichkhun who’re already dressed up.

Junho’s actually glad to get rid of his old clothes as this jumpsuit fits his body perfectly. The material isn’t leather or anything of that sort; it’s something else, because it feels like his own skin, as if the suit’s stuck to every patch of his body. Nothing similar to the usual human produced clothing. “Cool, now I look like one of you. Too bad I don’t have super powers.”

“Someday...” Wooyoung’s hand taps Junho’s shoulder and Junho wants to ask more, but Wooyoung pushes him forward. No more questions.

They’re outside in the alleyway, but it doesn’t feel hot at all and Junho realises the jumpsuit somehow regulates the temperature. _Alien technology_ , Junho rolls his eyes and almost bumps into Nichkhun, but the latter touches his chest before Junho does so. “I was wondering,” Junho ignores the super humans who’re already on their air-bikes. “Do you speak at all? Or is it not necessary since you and Minjun can communicate using telepathy.”

Nichkhun’s soft chuckle surprises Junho a bit. “Talking is more fun. But these days I seem to use telepathy more.”

“Do you use telepathy with Wooyoung too?”

Nichkhun raises his thick eyebrow. “Are you jealous?” His smirk irritates Junho, but he thinks he hides it well.

“No, I’m not a fan of soap operas. I trust him.”

“Sure, that’s why he’s got that mark. You understand it.” Nichkhun squeezes Junho’s shoulder as he leans in and whispers, “He doesn’t let me in.” Nichkhun pulls back. “Cherish your man.”

Junho can feel his ears burning as Nichkhun walks away, and Wooyoung’s voice telling him to get on his airbike makes them burn even more. He wishes he knew how to make Nichkhun feel embarrassed, but it is something impossible as the fellow human’s brain seems to be working on a different frequency. Junho turns around and walks over to Wooyoung’s airbike. He glances at the super human’s serene face, but looks away immediately and sits behind him.

“Hey, hug me. You’ll fall off.” Wooyoung reminds him as Junho’s head floating somewhere in the land of embarrassment. Nichkhun sure knows how to tamper with one’s feelings.

“Bastard...” Junho mutters and circles his arms around Wooyoung waist, avoiding the spikes.

“What did I do!?” Wooyoung sounds a bit offended.

“Not you! It’s that freak.”

“Why?” Wooyoung tries to twist his waist to face Junho, but the human moves Wooyoung’s body the other way.

“Nevermind. He’s just annoying.”

Wooyoung shrugs. “Hold tight.” The airbike shoots forward and Junho looks at Minjun’s vehicle in front of them. Wooyoung doesn’t let Nichkhun mess up with his mind. Junho grins.

 

He holds Wooyoung’s laser gun in his hands, looking back frequently as they fly above the old railway. It’s not very usual to meet so many water-carriers during the day, but Junho thinks it can’t be helped as they’re getting closer to the ocean where their population is the highest. Their only advantage is that the aliens do not have their advanced vehicles as most of them have been destroyed during the war, but they still have human made guns.

There’s no doubt they’re aware of the super humans’ existence, because water-carriers never wait in such big groups to ambush someone, especially when most of the human race is wiped out. They feel threatened. Junho doesn’t have the time to ask if their races have met before, because covering their backs is his and Nichkhun’s main task right now. Choosing the old railway appears to be the right choice, because so far there haven’t been any attacks unlike when travelling through the plains. Who’d use a railway anyway?

Wooyoung slows down and eventually stops beside Minjun’s airbike. Junho notices they’re in front of an old and small train station. Minjun’s about to say something, when Junho presses a finger to his mouth and shakes his head. He enters the station with the rest of the gang behind him, pointing the laser guns forward. He stops them with one hand motion and points to the other small rooms for them to clear out. Junho inspects the waiting hall and lowers the laser gun when everyone’s back with him. “Nothing?”

“No,” Wooyoung cracks his neck. “We’ve met more than expected.”

“We cannot stay idle. Not anymore.” Nichkhun states and everyone knows it’s a very unfortunate truth. No matter how tired they are. “Travelling at night would actually be better.”

“How come?” Junho frowns.

“They wouldn’t expect us to travel at night; they’d look for abandoned buildings like this to find us. Also, we would be less visible as well.” Minjun finishes Nichkhun’s explanation.

“We’re tired, but we can’t afford to relax now...” Wooyoung nods as he realises the danger. “There’s around 6 hours left till we reach the star gates.”

“Yes,” Minjun walks over to the dusty window. “Let’s have a short 10 minute break and we’ll continue our trip.”

“Awesome.” Junho feels his bladder awakening and he darts out to get rid of that problem. He finds a nice bush behind the building and does the deed with Mother Nature rapidly, listening to the insects chirping.

It’s so peaceful in this solitary place; he thinks he’s dreaming for a moment. He sighs and walks back slowly when he notices Wooyoung standing at the edge of the platform, staring at the starry sky. There’s no artificial lighting to distort the natural view. “Thinking about home?” He asks and the super human smiles as Junho approaches him.

“Yeah.”

“Do you miss it?” The moonlight casts a reflection of the iron plates and spikes on Wooyoung’s profile, making him look unearthly.

“I suppose. How about you? Are you going to miss your home?” He turns to Junho.

“Yes and no. You know how it is, right?” Junho smiles faintly and Wooyoung takes his hand, bringing it close to his chest.

“I do now. But I promise you, Junho, it’s going to be worthy. As soon as we reach Gaia, everything will be over. Your new home is waiting.” Wooyoung squeezes Junho’s hand as that strong feeling consumes him and Junho’s face gets closer, forcing Wooyoung to lean in and kiss his lover. Junho’s free hand touches Wooyoung’s neck and his thumb presses the skin near the super human’s ear.

Wooyoung’s tongue swipes across Junho’s lower lip, the latter granting the access inside his mouth. Their kiss is deep, full of short breaths and pure passion. Their energy is mixing again, taking all this experience to a higher level as they lose themselves in a short bliss. Wooyoung pulls away, but Junho manages to steal another short kiss from his lips. “We have to go.” Wooyoung seems a bit hesitant and Junho can relate to that too well.

“The faster the better, right?” Junho’s lips curl up and Wooyoung nods.

“In a few hours you’ll see our home.”

 

It’s true, the darkness gives them an advantage, however, the land is infested with water-carriers. The super humans fly their airbikes at full speed, obliterating any chance of being attacked. Junho doesn’t think much when he shoots the aliens; he just wants all of this to be over. The closer they’re getting to the star gates, the more tired Junho feels. He knows the salvation is right there, but Junho doesn’t allow himself to relax. _Not yet_ , he says to himself and kills another enemy, while holding tight onto Wooyoung’s waist.

The railway ends and the thick forest they enter helps them to hide their presence. It’s calmer here, no one’s attacking them, however, that doesn’t mean they’re not being followed. Water-carriers might be slower, but they have no plans of letting the four of them leave so casually. There’s around half an hour ride left to their final destination.

Junho’s heart is fluttering, knowing these are the last minutes on this planet he called home. He’s not torn about this though. Junho knows there’s no way the Earth is going to be what it’s been ten years ago. The only thing he’s regretful about is those remaining survivors that will be left behind.

The trail of his thoughts is cut off when Minjun’s airbike experiences a blow and the super human manages to catch Nichkhun and land on the ground before the vehicle smashes into the tree. Wooyoung stops immediately, grabbing Junho’s hand and forcing him to run towards the couple together. “Are you okay?” He yells at Minjun and Nichkhun.

“Yeah, Khun’s got a bruise on his leg.”

“It’s alright,” Nichkhun says and looks into the dark behind Junho’s back. “We have to run, they’re close.”

Junho looks back and notices the enemies rushing towards them. “Shit. What are we waiting for? Run!” He yells and all of them start running. He notices Nichkhun’s limping a bit, but Minjun’s helping him and the human ignores the pain, earning a little respect from Junho as all of them are moving fast. “Our only advantage is that this part of the forest is the thickest, they cannot drive cars.” Junho takes a peek at what’s behind, hoping the star gate is a few minutes run away from them.

“But they’re pretty fast,” Wooyoung also notices the horizon is getting brighter. “Just a little bit more! We’re close.”

“Hold on, I can delay them a bit.” Junho stops them all and Nichkhun gives him a thankful look as his calf is bleeding a bit. Junho fishes a grenade out of his bag and smirks, throwing it with all his might. Seconds later there’s a loud explosion and this wins them a few more seconds of precious time.

They reach a rocky valley in the middle of the forest and they stop in the middle of it. “What now? Where is it?” Junho’s getting impatient as the noises of their enemies are getting closer.

“It’s invisible until I activate it,” Minjun explains quickly and touches the rock, which reacts to the Gaian’s energy and Junho’s amazed when a huge round star gate appears. The rock that Minjun touched seconds ago has changed its form immediately and Junho sees a huge orange button in the middle surrounded by weird signs, looking like ancient runes. But he has no time to spare, when water-carriers start shooting at them, using simple human guns. They duck behind a rock and Minjun does the same as they get separated.

Wooyoung nods silently, staring at Minjun and Junho knows they’re using telepathy now. Wooyoung looks at Junho and Nichkhun, “We have only 10 seconds to make it to the star gates. We have to cover Minjun’s back; he needs to enter Gaia’s ancient code to activate the thing. As soon as he does that, we have to run as fast as possible. There won’t be a second chance.”

“Don’t tell me he can’t open the gates twice in a row?” Junho gulps in terror, sensing this might get ugly if they don’t succeed.

“Precisely. It’s protected, so we have only one try.”

“Well damn.” Junho turns around and shoots back at the enemies, Nichkhun’s joining him. “I have another grenade, take it out for me.” He says and Wooyoung does as he’s told.

“Junho, you’re the bravest here.” Nichkhun says, surprising him. “I admire you, really.”

“Thanks. You win the weirdo psychic award from me.” He glances at Nichkhun and kills another enemy with Wooyoung’s laser gun while grinning. “Is Minjun ready?” Junho takes the grenade from Wooyoung.

“Yes,” Wooyoung joins the shooting and waits for Junho’s final command.

“I’ve been saving those grenades for a special occasion, you know.” Junho chuckles, sitting on the ground and staring at Wooyoung’s concentrated profile. “Kinda sad to use them now.”

“I will give you more exciting toys when we reach Gaia.” Junho grins at Wooyoung’s remark.

“One... Two... Three!” Junho throws the grenade and it explodes, a cloud of dust descending everywhere while Minjun presses in the code quickly. Junho sees a water-like material appear in the star gates and he hears Wooyoung scream _‘Go!’_. They do so, running with all they’ve got towards the massive thing that’s the only available port between Earth and Gaia. The only port between desperation and hope.

The remaining fateful seconds happen in a daze as all of them run without looking back, just shooting randomly with their guns pointed somewhere behind them.

And suddenly, Junho’s hand holds Wooyoung’s as they enter the dark water-like space. His body goes numb.


	11. Chapter 11

The first step is surrounded by cold and snow, vapour escaping everyone's mouths. It's so calm Junho feels like he's in heaven. He's overwhelmed by the view, losing himself in a complete awe. The star gate is on a small, most likely artificial round island, and there's water around them. The sky's purple mixed with orange and there’s an infinite number of stars above, one planet especially close as if it was a twin. There are floating objects up in the air, but they look more like buildings rather than spaceships. This is truly a magical place to live in.

Wooyoung squeezes Junho's hand in his and the human's senses come back to him, the numbness fading away slowly and Junho stumbles. Wooyoung catches him by the shoulders, looking at his face attentively. "I don't feel so well..." Junho speaks silently and when Wooyoung looks down, he sees a trail of blood on the snow. And when Wooyoung's gaze scans Junho's body rapidly, his whole body freezes.

"Junho..." Wooyoung's voice wavers and Junho stares at his own chest, the realisation where all the numbness resides in hits him hard as he gazes at the injury in the middle of his chest. Nichkhun and Minjun turn around, deep frowns decorating their faces, remembering that the vision Nichkhun had seen before is becoming real.

He got shot.

Junho's body succumbs to the damage and his legs give in. Wooyoung holds him tight as he kneels down with Junho cradled in his arms. He touches Junho's chest with one hand, trying to heal him, but Minjun comes closer and squeezes the super human's shoulder faintly. "Wooyoung... You know you can't heal a fatal wound..." His soft voice and the painful realisation bring out of Wooyoung something he has never experienced before. His tears start dripping on Junho's face and the latter just smiles at him gently.

"I bet it's your first time crying." He speaks silently, his body growing weaker with each second. Wooyoung nods and can't stop his tears, but his hand's still on Junho's chest, sending his energy to his lover, making him feel at ease.

"Everything is my first time with you." He answers, sensing how dreadful the present tense sounds now. But it is present, still...

Junho touches Wooyoung's hand, stained with his own blood and it takes so much effort, but Junho wants to feel him. He has to feel him. "Wooyoung... Kiss me." His plea is almost mute; Wooyoung feels as if Junho's talking on a frequency that only he can hear. Wooyoung gives him a soft kiss and it hurts more than he thought it would, because Junho's lips are as cold as the snow beneath them. He pulls away slightly, just enough to see Junho's bleary eyes. It hits Wooyoung more than anything that the life force is leaving Junho way too fast with each second that passes.

"Don't leave me..." Wooyoung begs quietly and Junho smiles at him.

"I won't..." Junho coughs, small droplets of blood landing on Wooyoung's face, but Junho doesn’t see it as he has no energy to keep his eyes open. "Wooyoung-ah... Don't blame... Yourself..."

"No..." Wooyoung shakes his head frantically, seeing as the life force leaves Junho. "No..." He repeats, knowing that Junho’s life is the key to his own. And he's about to lose that key.

"Gaia... Is beautiful..." Junho exhales and Wooyoung's world shatters, because it’s not followed by another inhale.

There's only the sound of waves hitting one another, the serenity hypnotizes Wooyoung and his own breathing stops. "No." He chokes, catching the air, Junho's frozen body in his embrace feeling like a stone. "No!" He screams and pulls up the sleeve of his jumpsuit, pressing the mark, Junho's mark on his forearm, to Junho's solar plexus and preparing for something that has never been done before.

"Wooyoung!" Minjun screams and kneels in front of him, hoping that what he’s thinking about isn't what Wooyoung's going for. "What are you doing?!"

"I'll catch his soul." He states calmly, looking more like a robot rather than a live human being.

"You know it's impossible! Even if you did, you might die because your body wouldn’t be able to withstand it! The energy is too great! You can't contain two souls!" Minjun yells, seeing how Wooyoung's losing his mind. "Don't be ridiculous! You can't save his soul like this, it's too difficult! There's a reason why we need 3 people and a container for that!"

"Shut up, Minjun! Imagine if it was Nichkhun lying here! Just imagine it!" He stares at Minjun for a few seconds like a wounded beast and his mad eyes go back to Junho's body.

Minjun cannot say anything against that. He feels Nichkhun's hand on his shoulder and looks at him. Nichkhun shakes his head. They won't stop him. Junho's soul leaves the body.

Wooyoung starts shivering as the tiny yellow glowing orb that is Junho's soul passes through the solar plexus and meets Wooyoung's energy and skin. He uses all his power to catch the most precious thing, but he feels it's too much. His whole body is burning, every particle is full of that soul and there's no way he can hold it in any longer, but he fights it. Wooyoung fights the boundaries that are defined by his vessel and energy, because he has been through so much with Junho.

Junho keeps on circulating in his mind and there's no stopping it. If there's no Junho, Wooyoung doesn't need this existence as well. His mind is shaken by the memories of Junho's smiling face and it cuts deep into his heart. Wooyoung doesn't know what is happening to him, everything's in a daze and he can feel Minjun's hands shaking him before his mind turns black.

 

_Am I dead?_

_No, there's a heartbeat._

_Am I dreaming?_

_No, smells and sounds are too intense._

Wooyoung opens his eyes and sees white ceiling. Bright colours blind him slightly and he blinks a few times, moving his upper body into a sitting position. He feels stiff. Wooyoung removes all the medical equipment off his body, throwing away the unnecessary wires and whatnot. He shifts his body and his feet touch the warm floor.

_Why am I here?_

Wooyoung sits on the edge of the bed and looks through the glass wall outside. It's snowing. It's always snowing here.

_But why am I here?_

He asks himself again and his eyes shift down to the white underwear he's wearing and the arm placed on his bare thigh. The scorpion mark. Wooyoung stares at it for the longest moment and the void in his chest starts increasing immediately, making his body go numb as the sorrowful memories fill in the empty mind that wanted to burry everything deep down. They're painting him all over like a canvas, a canvas that he'd like to burn and never see again. Even if it meant forgetting Junho. Wooyoung grits his teeth so hard it hurts his jaw. It takes everything to refrain from drowning himself in tears.

If only he would've pushed Junho first and avoided the fatal bullet. He'd be sitting beside him, smiling at him and cursing at something. Wooyoung would laugh at him and everything would result in a passionate kiss.

Wooyoung touches his lips gently.

_Warm._

The sound of doors opening startles him and for a brief moment Wooyoung's chest is burning with a silly hope to see Junho coming in; telling him it was just a very very bad dream. Wooyoung stares at the person entering the room and disappointment drags his soul down. He turns away and proceeds looking through the huge window, ignoring Minjun and the nurse's presence completely. She does a quick check up and nods to Minjun, letting him know that physically everything is alright. She leaves them alone.

Minjun sits down beside Wooyoung. "You're blocking me. Why?" His voice is soothing as he refers to their telepathy, but Wooyoung remains quiet and continues to stare at snowflakes outside. "We've been restoring your energy for a few months. And even when it was over you still didn’t open your eyes." Minjun stands up and walks to the window, looking at the water where snowflakes melt. "I'm sorry." He turns around and looks at Wooyoung's blank face.

"Nichkhun knew, didn't he?" Wooyoung's serene voice slightly startles Minjun.

Minjun sighs and nods. "His visions are impossible to change. We thought telling you would prevent us from reaching the star gates. We... We couldn't risk it."

"And yet, you risked Junho's life." His cold words cut deep into Minjun's heart.

"Wooyoung... We-"

"I want my damaged birthmark to get fixed. I don't want to feel a single thing. Nothing. I... I cannot..." Wooyoung bites on his lip and once again it takes all his strength to prevent himself from crying, but when Minjun kneels down and hugs him so tight it's almost suffocating, Wooyoung lets it out. His cry is loud and lasts only for a few seconds, because he must fight it. Wooyoung has to endure everything until his feelings get sealed for good.

The door opens once again and Minjun stands up quickly, but Wooyoung just stares at the floor. "Your Highness."

The Elder smiles at Minjun and nods. His tall figure is dressed in a white jumpsuit with no spikes and armour. His face seems fresh, despite the short grey hair that gives him the edge and a special aura surrounds his every movement as he walks towards the two super humans. "Just call me Taecyeon; I've never fancied such formalities anyway."

"My apologies." Taecyeon shakes his head at Minjun.

"Wooyoung, dress up. I want to take a walk with you outside." Taecyeon looks at his warrior, who grabs a jumpsuit lifelessly. He frowns at Wooyoung, who can't see it as his thoughts are floating somewhere else.

They both leave the building and walk into the chilly weather, which they're used to so well it doesn't bother them at all. In fact, there's nothing that bothers Wooyoung except his own existence. "How was the Earth?" The Elder asks nonchalantly.

"Different." Taecyeon chuckles lightly, drawing attention from the other super humans walking nearby in the park.

"True. It is different." Their steps sound soft on the snowy path. "You've experienced a lot. This experience is, without a doubt, inestimable."

"At what price?" Wooyoung mumbles and Taecyeon stops him.

"Indeed. A very high price. This is why you shouldn't get your birthmark fixed. This is why you should remember everything and learn from it. I know you think _what that rational geezer knows_ , but I know you have to refrain from taking a step back. And it's not because I need a special unit of super humans with emotions. That bond you have with Junho is beyond our genetic engineering. It is our future."

Wooyoung looks at Taecyeon for the very first time. "Our future?"

"Fei!" Taecyeon shouts and a smiling woman walks over to them. "She holds the key."

"Excuse me?" Wooyoung's confused.

"When you lost consciousness," Taecyeon looks away with a gentle expression on his face. "Junho's soul stayed there until we brought the container for it. It didn't leave. It just hovered above your new mark like it was a soul magnet." He looks back at Wooyoung whose face has gone completely pale. "His soul is inside Fei's baby."

Wooyoung immediately stares at her stomach and beneath a cosy white coat he notices a round bump. He gulps painfully, trying not to choke on the oxygen. Wooyoung doesn't ask for permission, he just takes a few steps forward and stands in front of Fei, whose sincere smile feels so refreshing. He looks at her stomach and reaches his hands towards it, his fingers shaking slightly. She opens her coat for him, just enough to touch the soft material of her thin dress.

When his hand touches the pregnant woman, Wooyoung shuts his eyes and the scorpion mark suddenly flashes.

Junho’s energy.

_He didn't leave me._

 

The day Junho’s born, Wooyoung laughs when he sees the scorpion birthmark on his little forearm. He also laughs, because Junho will be the one who’ll have to be taught by Wooyoung how to control his emotions when the time comes.

The second birthmark decorates Junho’s entire back. Wooyoung pokes it and smiles even wider, because it’s a huge sun.

“Now you’ve got your own super powers. Welcome back.”


End file.
